The Eliminators
by Big Boss Pugh
Summary: They hunt, scout, capture, and eliminate. In their line of work, they are the best at what they do. The greatest challenge of their life is now to work as a team. An assassin from Russia, the American bounty hunter, a mercenary from France, and a retired hit-man from Great Britain. The money is up for grabs; power moves are in motion. The only question left: Who is the target?
1. Chapter 1

_The Eliminators_

 **"Your name will be crossed off the list once you get your bullet."**

 **Contract Killer**

" **Every person has their own sense of honor that they uphold when any words go forth. For honor, it means that only the strong shall survive. Only the smartest shall thrive. Only the best will make history. Without honor, a person will live only in disgrace among humanity. The same can be said of a person when rules are taken into consideration. The rules of an individual means taking the path and seeing it through till the end. No matter how unholy or holy the journey is, once a set of rules are laid bare, the only way it will change is through one's character be it done with evil or righteous hands."**

 **Author Shaun Denard Pugh**

 **Day 1**

 _Vector_

I am aware of my surroundings. My walk is silent. The time is night. I am anticipating unexpected foes. I make my approach to a wall and keep out of sight. I look to my left and right before I climb up the ladder. The building is about five stories tall. It houses plenty of dangerous people. Once I get to the top, it is easy to get inside. No enemy in sight on the rooftop. The cool air rushes against my body as I check my surroundings every few moments. I look around with my assault rifle pointing in every direction I face. My footsteps echo softly with each step I take down the hall. I peek around the corners to spot for patrolling guards. My mission is simple: Search and Eliminate. Like all my other missions, I already knew what kind of trouble to expect when entering territory that has "Keep Out" signs everywhere. Even in the medieval times, it is simple for a wandering traveler to understand that message clearly. In this case, I am not the wandering traveler delivering supplies to the next village or trading weapons for coin. No, that simple life is for people who didn't dream of killing. I was trained by the best. I was made to be greater than the best. I was told to be better than everyone else in the field of modern warfare. I am the Spec Op. I was trained in the art of killing, stealth, and mortal combat. Now, I am a mercenary who is paid to kill people that do not deserve to live or who are becoming problems for various organizations. Even with all I know, it seems worthless to use in a place as nasty as this building I am in. The place has rats, bugs, and plenty of dust. The smell of the place has a rusted yet stale odor in the air. The fact I have a mission here makes me wish I had decline on the offer to do it. I wish my informer could have sent me elsewhere to eliminate my target than sending me to a shit hole like this. My last few jobs were in places that made utilizing my skills quietly or loudly worth the trip. This place is beneath me. I get sent to a place that should have been dealt with by local authorities long ago. That's the government for you. They never really handle a situation until they can't control it. I wish I had better jobs than this. Yet, I didn't have the time to think about the place. My destination is within my reach. I come to my next corner. I can hear a group of men laughing. They seem to be having a good time. I peek around the corner. They stand in front of the door I need to go through. The way these guys did their job is too pathetic. None of the men watch the hall. Did they even bother to glace down the hall for intruders? Typical stupid gunmen. Even the guns they have can be found in local gun stores. One guy has a standard pump-action shot-gun. The others at his left and right side have standard pistols. This is going to be easy. I pull a flash bang from my harness. I look around my area just to make sure no one else is in the vicinity. This is my time to get them out of my way. There is no other way available to go around them. I have to make sure none leave alive. I take a few more breaths. The bomb has a slow five second wait. I pull the pin and count the time correctly before I release it. My toss is perfectly timed. The flash bang went off right in the middle of them. I didn't waste any time making sure each bullet from my handgun found the head to go in. Good thing my silencer is on. Last thing I need is a gun patrol coming to kill me. I slide the corpses off to the side of a dark corner.

I approach the door. I open the door slowly and see what is in the next area. I just happen to be walking on a metal floor. I can hear more men talking just below me. It is a nice touch to have a door next to the catwalk of a building. It must have been luck that I came to this dark catwalk. No one else is up here. I guide my eyes over the edge of the rail. I see the den of men ready to start a small war. The guns the men have are two different styles of AK-47s. Some men have scopes or grenade launchers attach to the weapons. The room has about less than hundred men. I know getting out of here is not going to be that easy if things go bad. I am glad I came prepared for this. The four hand grenades will serve a good purpose here if I need to collapse a wall anywhere. I didn't need to kill all these men, but if they got in my way, it is their own fault. Even with five rifle clips, I am sure I will not need to use all of them. All I want is Mr. Roger dead. He is becoming a problem for certain people ever since he started advising these rebels. The rebel leader Commander Black-Knight followed every piece of advice Mr. Roger told him since day they agreed to help each other. These men took a small bunch of street thugs and made them into a highly group of radicals all because of the advice from Mr. Roger. It is almost time to get ready for my kill. I set a trip wire explosive on the door handle. I take my position in the darkest part of the catwalk. The rebels cheer for their arriving leader and his advisor, my target. As the two went on stage, I take this time to modify my assault rifle. I replace the barrel tip with a silencer head and adjust my scope. I do one more check on the door trap. Whoever opens that door will feel the full force of the explosive I set. I am ready to hear the rebel leader speak. During his chat, I close the eyes of his advisor permanently. I get into position and aim at my targets. There they are. For an advisor of this bunch, Mr. Roger dresses well. It is a shame his suit won't look so great shortly. And now he is standing in front of a pole. I can wait a little more. Commander Black-Knight won't be alive much longer either once his morale speech ends. The speakers around the building voice Commander Black-Knight as he speaks to his army.

"Due to recent events within our squads, we have brought you all here to witness a lesson in discipline. As you all know, Mr. Roger has been here with us every step of the way. Were it not for him, we would not have the power we amassed today. His plans have opened a way for us to prove to the world that we are changing it for the better. Tonight isn't about Mr. Roger though. It is about a lesson that must be reminded to all of you. One of our most important rules of discipline has been broken. Our trust has been scattered. We had dust thrown into our eyes to blind us to the evil, treacherous enemy that has been working his plan on us. The enemy coming to the stage in shackles has been a double agent working for the government. He has been collecting profit over the last few weeks as he reports our activities. This is a serious insult to all of us. So, what do we do whenever we have a double agent? We always make him the prime example of any traitor to our cause. The only thing is this double agent has crossed us more times than I and you know of. Our double agent is Sgt. Peter Martinez. He has been secretly feeding our recent activities to the government. He has put us in danger of losing our stable base. He even promised the government to personally hand myself and Mr. Roger over on a silver plate. Mr. Roger told me of his constant comings and goings to a hidden spot just under our base. It was an old radio room that Sgt. Martinez used. He has all of our activities known by the government using his very own laptop. He even told the government that tonight would be their best time to strike. It is a good thing for us that Mr. Roger advised to doubled our security. The government may come for us to be taken away, but tonight they shall witness the blood spill from their bodies and lay before our feet. Most of our faction is outside waiting and alert. They will not get the chance to see this, but you will tell them of the glory details. Before the enemy arrives, let me introduce our double agent personally. I want him to know just how we all feel about all the hard, turncoat work that he has done. Let me give the floor to our double agent former Sgt. Peter Martinez."

I look to see the blooded, bruised Sergeant stagger over in chains. They did a good number on him. He can barely open his left eye. The rebels curse and damn him for making their plans known to the government. Two guards shove him to the floor. Peter looks up to see the faces of Mr. Roger and Commander Black-Knight. I feel my hand tighten around the gun. My moment presents itself. Mr. Roger takes one of the guns from Black-Knight. He walks towards Peter and grabs him by his shirt. Damn, it just hit me at this moment. What should I do? Should I go ahead and take out Mr. Roger while I save this poor soul? Do I just let him die as he feels the iron from the gun pressing his forehead? This is why I hate this kind of elimination task. It is always some poor, stupid person in the way trying to change the world or capture the bad guys. I have to do something fast or else my choices will become obvious. I watch Mr. Roger press the gun hard to the head of Peter and give him a smack to his face. The other rebels cheer him on to pull the trigger. I slowly squeeze my trigger.

I say, "Looks like tonight is not your night Mr. Martinez."

Just when I am about to pull my trigger, an explosion goes off outside. It sounds like the government moved in quicker than ever. Before I can stay on my target, some asshole just has to come through the door where my trip wire explosive is at. The blast nearly knocks my focus off. I quickly regain my concentration. As the men at the bottom room all look up, I quickly take cover and pull away from over the edge. I can hear loud noises come from above my head. I look up to see what the noise is. A helicopter flashes its light within the building. All the men quickly take aim at the top of the building. I duck away from the view of the window. The gun fire shatters the glass and a bunch of smoke grenades fall inside the building. The smoke quickly fills the room. The men at the bottom fire at the ceiling as best as they could. I keep myself hidden in the darkness, but I already know what is coming next. Twelve men slide down their lines into the room and began to clean up. From where I am at, I would stay and enjoy the show were it not for my mission. I turn for the door that is now shattered pieces of wood. I must make sure I am in the next possible place my target would be at. I quickly make my way back out the same way I came in. Good thing I didn't encounter any resistance along the way. I hate to waste good bullets.

When I make it back to the rooftop, I look over the edges to see the courtyard. It is a war zone of federal agent teams against rebels. I look at the rebel side, but Mr. Roger is not in my sight. I quickly run to the other side of the building. I see a few cars parked side by side. It is just my luck that I now see Mr. Roger walking away with Commander Black-Knight and his bodyguards. I take my aim carefully. I slow my breathing down. I am more than ready to make this shot count. As Mr. Roger turns back around to see who else is behind him, I take my shot. The quiet sound of my gun sent the bullet right for Mr. Roger's head. Perfect shot and mission accomplished. I pull away from the edge and got ready to leave until I hear shouting and two gun shots. I look back down to see Peter on one knee with a bullet in it. The second bullet has penetrated his shoulder. Why the hell would he chase after these men? I see Commander Black-Knight come close to Peter. Black-Knight holds his gun at point blank. Luckily for Peter, he has a group of feds closing in and a guardian. Before Black-Knight pulls the trigger, I fire my gun twice. One bullet hits the shoulder. The other bullet breaks through the side. Commander Black-Knight falls. As federal agents move in to secure and gun down the remaining resistance, Peter takes his own gun and aims it at Black-Knight. I walk away from the edge knowing what the results will be. Either way, my mission is complete. I had found Mr. Roger and eliminated him. And, I completed my bonus of taking down Commander Black-Knight whether he is killed by me or arrested by the federal government. Remembering the way I came in, I quickly got out of the area. Within twenty minutes, I am away from the battle field. I open my phone and call my client.

The person says, "I take it your call is about the successful termination of Mr. Roger?"

I reply back, "Yes, Mr. Roger is nothing more than a corpse. And, I took care of Commander Black-Knight. He won't be bothering anyone no more too.

The person asks, "So, you even manage to take care of the commander too? Is he dead or arrested?"

I strongly answer, "What difference does it make? Mr. Roger is dead, and Commander Black-Knight is out of the picture. Do I get my bonus or not?"

There is a moment of silence. Then I hear, "Your bonus has been added to your account. Your next mission begins within the next few weeks. Rest up, Vector. You've earned it."

The call gets disconnected. I am happy to hear that I earned the bonus. I finish walking to my hidden transportation. Good thing I love to travel as an unknown, lost-in-the-woods traveler. I switch out of my gear and put my guns away. All my gear is thrown inside the trunk and out comes the flashy, traveler clothes. When I finish throwing on my tourist clothes, you would swear to God almighty that I am not a killer. I check all my car's compartments to make sure I have everything I need. From having all proper I.D. to travel guides, I was no longer Vector, mercenary Spec Op. I was simply Shaun. I was a lost, wandering traveler who just so happen to be near by a warzone. As I drive my car around the area of where I was at, the cops and feds direct traffic away from the carnage. I get pulled over and have my I.D. ready. They ask me a few questions on how I just happen to come across here. I innocently talk my way through it till the boss tells them to let the civilian go. All around my head, I can hear the sirens. The whole area is indeed a messy sight, but I did my best not to draw any more attention towards me. As I look pass the cops, I see that Commander Black-Knight did get shot again only in his other arm. He is placed inside an ambulance. I come to a stop as the cops allow the emergency vehicle to be escorted off with two federal cars following closely by. I look at another federal car. There he is. Sgt. Peter Martinez is alive and well. He has a smile on his face. The traffic cop clears me to drive away from the area. I smile a little knowing that I got my target and my bonus money. I am also glad that a good man makes it through his job. Shit, I wish I could have stayed and killed more of those rebels. It would have looked nice to put a few more of those clumsy fools down for fun.

 **Day 16**

 _Wallace_

Now this is the life! I am happy about the choice I made for myself. No more killing, no running from authorities, no bullets flying pass my head, and no more odd phone calls out of nowhere from some random person. It is just going to be me, my wife, and child. I can't stop smiling about that notion all day for the past two years. The day I told my clients that I was giving up my killing ways made me the happiest man on earth. Sure, I did it for the money but now I have a reason to stay out. It is still hard to believe that two years have come and gone. Now, all I had to do is find me a regular job. We may have gotten by with the ton of money I made from my jobs, but it will not last us forever. I am haven't worked for a whole two years. I may have been happy with my wife and child, but I need a job. The left over two-hundred thousand dollars has been saved for emergencies when we need it. We already brought a house and car with full coverage for both. The rest of the money has to last. Ugh, all this sitting here in the saloon makes me think too much. There should be a good job out there for me to work. For now, I am glad to be at the saloon tonight. There are a lot of people here on a Thursday. I was having my usual beer I always get at any bar. The chatter in this place always makes it easier to block out most of my problems, but that was when I had to kill people for a living. I can hear so many different stories and see enough good people coming here. Ah, what a good night it is going to be for me. Shame, the same thing can't be said for certain people. A lot of them either had too much to drink or was not alive to see this day thanks to me. I see that it is close to my checkout time. The only problem is the bar has some unexpected guests come in with the wrong attitude. They throw the tough guy attitude around like drunk fools. I pay for my bar fee before these harden assholes come over. Like any other day, assholes come and go. The big man tries to act like he is the toughest S.O.B. around the entire place. And he just has to come around my way and start fucking with me.

"Hey you", he says to the bartender, "Give me one of those beers. And this prick is going to pay for it along with the ones my buddies get too."

The bartender looks at me. I can hear a few others back away from us. I smile at the bartender and gladly pay for the drinks. I even add one more beer for me to take home. I got up from the bar stool, but the big man is not making it easy for me. He grabs me by the arm tightly and turns me about to face him.

He says, "And where do you think you're going, dip shit? You are not going to walk out of here unless you pay us more. Maybe, if my friend Charles puts you on the corner in a dress, you will act right."

The big man and his friends laugh loudly. Although none of us have our fists ready, I hear many people calling it a night and going out the door. I smile once more and offer the big man more than enough money. The bartender and the people watching us can't believe what I give him. The big man unrolls at least one thousand dollars in brand new bills.

I say, "I hope this is more than enough to cover the expenses of your night. I have to go home to my family."

I turn to leave again and feel a rough shove from the man. I catch my balance before I stumble any further. The rude men laugh at me and call me names. I just calmly brush them off and walk to the door. All I have on my mind is going home to my wife and kid. I could have easily turned around and took care of those guys, but I got something greater at home waiting for me than to be a street fighter. I hear a beer bottle break behind me as it smashes against the wall to my right. Now I hear those assholes laughing at me. One of the assholes blocks the door to stop me from leaving. Damn it! Will these fools know when it is time to give a man peace? I turn around and there they are. They may not have been drunk, but they are intoxicated for a fight. I sigh heavily upon seeing them.

I ask, "What do you want now? I brought you a round of beers, gave you money for a night on the town, and you still bother me. I suppose now you will want money for a car?"

The big man walks towards me saying, "How about instead I give you a fight? You look like the type who can take a beating. Oh and don't worry, I remember what you did for me and my friends. Yes, you brought us beers. Yes, you gave me money. The only thing you didn't give me is the respect the way I want it."

The man stops right in front of me. He just finishes drinking his last beer. I can't believe this is happening again. Is the world full of assholes who don't know the meaning of when a person does not want to fight? I back away from the guy and plea to him that a fight is not necessary. The big man throws his beer bottle on the ground and shoves me again. I see people gather around us waiting for a fist to be thrown. I once again plea for the third to fourth time for no fight, but this time instead of a shove, the big man collides his fist into my jaw. I stagger backwards falling hard on my back. The crowd cheers at the sight of how hard the big man hits me. As I try to collect my thoughts, I get a foot stomp hard onto my stomach. The roaring voice within the crowd brings me to focus. The constant noises around my ears put me at ease. Finally, it hits me without even thinking. I smack the back of the big man's leg causing him to stumble forward. I quickly get to my feet. The big man gets back up fast and comes charging at me. I easily evade his punches. He is so slow that even an inexperience boxer or a retired one can smack his sorry ass up. The more I evade his fists, the more I play out my plan of retaliation. As he tries to hit me with a powerful haymaker, I move in close and ram my fist right into his gut. The big man falls down hard. The other guys try to attack me, but I am ready for them jumping in at any time. I went for the first thing I can grab. It pities me that I have to grab the serving tray and throw it. It knocks one of the men down, but there are two more coming at me. They both try to grab me, but I surprise the hell out of them. They both went down fast, but it isn't over yet. I finish them both off with ease. The big man gets back up. He is madder than before. He charges at me; however, he didn't count on me falling to the ground and tripping him. After his second hard fall, I can't help myself but laugh at how he fights.

I bent over to the big man and ask, "Are you and your friends done trying to fight me? I offer you and your men so many times to walk away, but you kept on going with your insults and attacks. Now, I have fixed your problem and home is calling me. I hope this reminds you not to fuck with me anymore."

I walk to the door and leave out. Before I get away from him, he shouts, "You better hope I don't find out about your loved ones! They are good as dead as you will be too punk!"

Even though I am outside, it always gets my rage up to even hear someone say anything threatening to my loved ones or a person's family. Luckily for this punk, I am going home to my family. Good thing my wife and kid live only blocks away from the saloon. All I want to see now is my wife's lovely smile with her holding our child. As I try to enjoy my walk home, I hear some sirens coming behind my back. I turn around to see three police cars drive by. They seem to be in a rush towards… the same direction of my home? Not wasting any more time, I run so fast I thought my soul will leap out from my body and appear at home. I manage to make it to my home, but it is not in the condition I left it. The entire front of the house has bullet holes in it. I also found a grenade pin on the ground. The house is close to falling over. I push my way through the police tape only to be approached by police officers. I can only hope that the worse has not come to my wife and kid. I tell the police I live here, and they direct me to the police chief.

The chief says, "I am sorry to say, but there is no one here. Only item we found was this."

The chief hands me the picture of my wife and child. I ask the chief if there is any signs of them still around. She tells me there is no blood, no bodies, and they both have been gone from the house before it was shot up. All I could do is fall on my knees and weep. The only two important people to me are now gone. I didn't know if they are dead or not. The police chief questions me further, but I can't give her any solid answers. All I think of is my wife and child. The very thought of them dead nearly gives my heart a scare. I get escorted to a hotel until the investigation of my house is complete. The police give me a room and take care of all the financial payments. I went inside only to have mixtures of rage and sadness. I spent the next hour looking at the only picture I took of my wife and child. It has only been five years ago since we met. I will never forget how I saved her from a life of prostitution from a harden pimp. And ever since that day I saved her, and the day of our child was born, I knew that I had to keep her and our baby safe from the life I lived. I went to the shower to wash up. Usually, a cold shower would take my mind off of things. The cold feel of the water falling on me puts me more at ease than anything in the world. Of course, all of that changed the day I got married. I stayed in the shower for a good fifteen minutes. I would normally stay for ten minutes or less, but the tragic lost left me feeling colder. I try to do regular stuff any person would but my mind would not be at peace. After I come out of the bathroom, I found a cell phone on the bed. There is a note next to it. I pick up the note and it reads: "All is not lost for you, Rampage."

I turn over the card to make sure there is nothing else. The phone begins to vibrate. I pick up the phone and flip it open to take the call.

The voice says, "It has been quite a long time, Rampage. I know you have retired from the life of killing, but I believe destiny is about to change that for you."

I reply, "This is not the time to call me up for a target or person that needs to be eliminated. I just lost my wife and kid. Do you really think I want a job at a time like this?!"

I was close to cancelling the call, but the voice on the phone told me news that came as a shock.

The voice says, "I understand your loss, but your family is alive."

"What the fuck you mean 'my kid is alive?' What about my wife? What is the catch," I ask.

The voice replies, "Ever since you gave up your life of killing, I always had agents keep tabs on you during these last four days. I may have lost your service after you left, but I always had a feeling we would need your skills again. I heard of the incident that occurred at your family's home. It turns out your wife and child were recovered from the aftermath of the carnage and taken to a safe location. The 'catch' is this: You will only get this hint of your family's well-being. In order for you to know any more info about them, you must be willing to do certain things again. By completing the tasks, you will not only get more info, but you will also walk away with more in your pocket. The real question is: Are you willing to die for them? Are you willing to kill again?"

"Let me call you back in five minutes." I was still trying to think straight.

The phone went dead. I fell upon the bed angry yet feeling at peace. I look at picture of my wife and child. The pain comes back to me. All the killing I had given up on to have a better life. I had spent only two years away from it. Now I was going back into it. I look at my picture again. I had to get my wife and child back. I had to do whatever it takes to live up to the promise I made to them. I promised her that I would make her world and our child's life the safest I can make for them. I place my picture back inside my wallet. I grab my phone and redial the last call. All I remember is saying: "What is my mission? Who is the target?"

Looking back on all that now seems only like a dream. I am now staring at my destination of where I am going. I can't believe I'm going back to the very same bar I had my tussle early. I walk in focused and ready. I sit at the bar and wait patiently. Although I come here to meet with my client, I was told that I had to prove that I still got it. My opportunity to prove myself came from an old problem that was more than unhappy to see me again. The big man and his friends came back to settle the score.

One of the men shouts, "All of you get the fuck out of the bar now! Anyone left inside will get the same pain once we are done with him."

The people within the bar left as quickly as they could. The bar owner grabs what he can, but before he left, I stop him just as he runs pass me. I pay the owner more than enough money to cover any damage done to his saloon. After the place cleared, I remain seated still drinking my beer. The big man of the gang comes to me. He sits beside me ready with his own weapon of choice.

He says, "That beating from early is now going to cost you. I hope you are willing to pay for the damage that you done to us. And this time, it is more than just money. Your life will be the only way to pay off this humiliation you caused me and my associates."

I took a huge gulp of my beer and turn to the man replying, "Last time we were here, I brought you all a round of beers. I offered you money to leave your night satisfied with any beautiful woman. Matter of fact, I even tried to walk away from the fight that you and your friends threw on me. You know there is only so much more physical damage that one can stand. Are you sure you and your gang want to go through this again? Last time, I left you all in a terrible fit. How do you expect to be left this time?"

The big man smashes his bottle, but I am already well prepared for that kind of cheap ass move. Before he even got his arm above his head, I gave him a hard right hook to the jaw. Another of his friends tries to get me, but I'm ready for a surprise attack. I ram my elbow in his gut. With two of them down, I have only two more to finish. One of them pulls out a knife; the other guy reveals a baseball bat with nails. I smile at the two with open arms. Both men look at each other and smirk at me. They both try to attack me at the same time, but I surprise both of them by running at them and diving right pass them. I land on my stomach and quickly roll over to see them. They quickly turn around to strike at me, but they both went down with a bullet to the skull. Too easy! I get to my feet and clapping comes from behind my back. I whip around to see who it is with my gun pointing right in their direction. A mystery man wearing a dark business suit smiles at me greatly. He wore shades and held a brief case.

He says, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! I was sent by the one who called you to make sure you could do the job. I must say, I am impressed. And speaking of being impressed, you first job was much easier than I thought."

I replied, "What job? You just got here as did I. What the hell you talking about, you piss ant?"

I try to keep my cool, but my old accent is coming back out. The man just smiles at me like I was a fool. Any longer with this waiting, he would have been dead in a few seconds.

The man answers, "Well, your first job was to kill a bunch of small time punks. You not only did your task, but you messed with one small time punk who was becoming more than just a little more trouble for local police to handle. And he just happens to be the guy on the floor here."

I look back at the big man and his associate on the ground. They both now have fear swirling about their head. I aim my guns at them and squeeze the triggers. My job is complete before I begin the real challenge.

The mystery man praises my skills and replies, "Well done, Rampage. I knew you would be the perfect hit-man for the job. It is amazing that only two years have gone by and you still have it in you. I hope your next task is more of a challenge for you. Are you up for it?"

I agreed without a moment of wait and no hesitation. The closer I can get to my client, the closer I would be able to find out about my family and who took them. I can't believe I am back in this shite again. I am once again Rampage. I am the hit-man of chaos and death. Better go get my bloody knifes ready and polished. Whoever this fucking cunt is will realize that he went and fucked with the wrong man's wife and child. To piss off Rampage meant a knife session later on once his associates are laying dead. Or, I may just blow up the chump with a bomb rammed up his ass. For now, I will play along until I get my loved ones back.

 **Day 30**

 _John_

"Another fifty thousand has been sent to your account. I trust that the bonus we sent you is more than enough. You have done a fine job for us, Mr. John Death." The voice said.

I reply, "Yeah, this job would have been tough if his boys were smarter to catch on, but they are just as stupid as I figured. The task of catching Mr. Sosa was a lot easier than I thought. I am just surprised you guys paid me a lot to bring him in. You sure have the right guy on file?"

The man on the phone answers, "We know all about Mr. Sosa and his associates. Taking him in was worth the pay. The associates and connections Mr. Sosa has are very vital yet valuable information. He will tell us what we need to know once we get him to headquarters. Till then, Mr. John Death, have yourself a nice time. We will be in touch."

The phone goes silent. I place the phone back into my pocket and smile greatly, knowing I just walked away with more money in my account for me. Time to celebrate! I may have been at my suite cleaning up my small cuts and my gear after most jobs I do, but it is time to go out and find me some action. I take a quick shower and put on something more relaxing. Within ten minutes, I am out the door. I get in my mustang and make my way to most popular spot in downtown. Who am I? My name is John. I am known by many names. I am called Mr. Death, Mr. John Death, Mr. Grim Reaper, or even Mr. Soulless. I went by these names due to my line of work. I'm a bounty hunter. I hunt human scum for a living and bring them to certain groups that want them dead or captured for intel. After every job I did, I usually tend to my wounds and clean up. Tonight is a different story though. This time I am heading out on the city to enjoy myself. I drove my car for about an hour before I arrive at club Espinoza. It is a difficult club to get inside of. Good thing for me they allow certain people in who have the cash on them to get inside. Tonight is looking pretty busy too. The line went around the corner. It must be something special going on tonight. I manage to find a good parking spot. I get in the long line, but damn, I didn't think it is this long. The line is gonna be forever. Even standing here thinking of a better way to get out of the line is not going to get me in quick. Then, the way for me to get out of the line presents itself. There she is standing in a red dress. The lady here is looking really sexy with her lovely hair style. She looks bored for the moment. I believe it is time for me to put a few moves on her and invite her back to my place.

I walk out of the line and move towards the woman. I say, "Hello miss. You are the most beautiful woman here tonight. How are you doing tonight?"

She smiles back and says, "Well, despite your cheap pick up line, you seem nice. Thank you for giving me something to smile about."

"Who ever said I was using a 'cheap pick up' act on you? I had a long day. I got off work. I can use some good company. Right now, looking at you is the best moment going for me."

"Hmmmmm, what can you do for me on this night?" She continues, "I am not some money chasing whore you know. I am looking for the right man who can give me a good time and spare no expense."

I smile with ease. I take her by the hand and say, "Well, this night can go a lot better if you are willing to leave with me away from this club. My own place is a lot more exciting than being here all night. I am sure I can make your night more interesting. Not to mention, I would gladly take you home after our night cap is over. That is if coffee and a book interest you?"

The woman smiles once more and takes me by the arm. I already see how this is going. We step out of the line and head for my car. The walk back to the car is indeed worth taking than standing in line for a club. Within moments, I am driving down the street with a sexy woman sitting in my car. I judge her by the manner she presets. She is respectful and loves to be treated well. Although the drive is a long one since I went a different way, I made sure to keep her intrigued.

"So, tell me something," I say, "What kind of woman are you? How would you like me to treat you?"

"Well, I am mostly a woman who loves to be fair. The real catch is can you treat me well and beyond? I am not only a keeper but someone who has a lot to offer."

I scoff at her words, "I have heard a lot of other women say that many times to my friends and associates. They all end up the same way like so many others."

She stares at me fiercely as if I am calling her out by what she does for a living. Instead, she laughs and smiles. She is enjoying herself around me. I can't wait till we get back to my place. We laugh, joke, and converse about various subjects. It is the usual bullshit any man will say just to get a woman undressed quickly. After we get back, the climax of this night is really getting hot. We walk through the long hallway. I notice a group of strange men standing at the corner a few feet away from my place. I hope this is not going to be another one of those moments in my life. Now is really not the time. My last date ended with the woman running scared after I killed six men. I want this one to go great. She has everything on looks and carries a good sense of humor. My date and I make it back to my room. As soon as she enters, she eyes the room with great care. I turn on the lights to give her a better view. She is impressed by everything. Before I knew it, there she is kicking off her shoes and falling onto my couch giggling like a school girl. I am glad I'm impressive to her. I still have my doubts about what kind of woman she is, but I will make the best of it.

"I hope the couch is comfy for you. You ready for the night cap that I promised you? I hope you love what I got in store for you."

I went to the kitchen and open a fine wine I always love to drink. Hopefully, this night would go without any sex involved. I am a man of high standards. The one-night stand events are getting old. I had my fair share of women to toss through and go through. Although some women were not always fully women considering how they dressed at the time. I just need a night where it does not involve me killing the jealous side piece or her wanna-be girlfriend. I whip around to see her reading through my various magazines. She seems to like nature. I bring her the glass of wine over. She sighs and gets up, walking to the kitchen. She takes the bottle of wine in her hand. She swallows a mouth full of wine twice. She really is amazing and surprising.

I go back to my bar, "Is the glass of wine too less for your drinking pleasure?"

She looks at me with a serious look on her face yet sighs, "Mr. John Death, I was told much about you. The details of how you like your women were easy to follow, but I find this difficult. I find it hard to believe your reputation stands over so many tough bounty hunters, scum bags, criminals, and thieves. The man of death has been one of your titles some people have called you. I was so overjoyed to hear about you when I took this assignment to capture you. Now I feel I made a great mistake since your taste in a woman can easily get you killed. I guess this was a total lost. At least one of my guys can entertain me better than you."

Just as she finishes her speech, she reaches for her phone and makes a call. I can't believe this girl is serious about trying to kill me with her so called friends. Look at her! The only thing she knows how to do is bounce her apple booty around. I place the glasses of wine down on the counter. She says a few words and hangs up. Ugh, this is just like my last few dates. At least they try to kill me on their own. Great! Now my door is being kicked open. That must be her knock off boy toys or accomplices. The last kick breaks the door open and they walk in. I look up to get a look at them. I should have just went and told her to invite those same punks inside who were hanging out in the hallway. These guys look real professional. They all are wearing clean suits with matching shoes. Thank the Lord that these fools know how to dress. As the lady puts back on her high heels, I decide that I will not let my wine go to waste.

The lead hit man steps forward with his arm around the woman, "I am so glad this didn't take all night. I thought this was the same John Death. Here I thought you would make this hard for me and my men. Instead, you have given us the grand opportunity to claim the reward on your head. A lot of underworld top dogs have you as their first prize for the 'wanted dead or alive' list. I can't wait to see the look on their face when I tell them about the capture of Mr. Death. This is a huge break for me and my boys. Although a little bodily harm to you is bad, I believe it will make us better known to everyone. Once we hand your sorry ass over, the person who pays us will be begging for our service again."

I finish my wine and place my glasses in the sink. "You know you guys are not the first to try and bring me down. And you certainly won't be the last. I wish this night would not involve me getting myself in a mess again, but I can see that this is not going to be possible. None of you will be walking away from this room and as for you woman, I will deal with you just as quickly as I finish them off."

The lady laughs at me and replies, "Yeah, well this woman here put your stupid ass in a fucked up situation. So, dying is your only option if you don't wanna be taken. Take care of this fool guys. We got money to make."

The lady goes to sit back in my big chair and watch the brutal, bloody work begin. The first guy tries to stab me. I easily reverse his assault and ram the knife into his stomach. The next guy charges at me with brass knuckles coming to my head. I duck away from his punch, but he grabs a hold of my shirt. He tries to punch me again, but this time, I surprise him by using his momentum against him. He misses me by the hair of my head and falls hard to the floor. I turn around quickly and snap his neck. The next guy tackles me to the floor and manages to slam his fist into my face. Nice punch. Not all that, but he could have done better. I block his next punch and head butt him. He caresses his face. I push him off of me and finish him off by snapping his neck. The other two guys and the lady pull of handguns. I dive for the side behind my couch only to hear the bullets break through the couch. Oh shit! I just brought this damn couch last week. Now it is all shot up. They stop firing bullets. I guess they thought I am dead. Good thing I keep two guns under my couch. I go for my twin 9mms. I could hear them reloading their guns. That is their last mistakes.

I stand up from behind the couch. The woman sees me and runs to the other couch. I easily shoot up the last two guys. Shame, I should have blasted the woman first. With no one else left standing but me and her in the room, it is time to see if she is a fighter, a deserter, or a deceiver. I turn and shoot the gut stabbed assailant in the head. I walk to the couch slowly, keeping my guns ready to fire. I take two breaths and look behind the couch. She's gone. Oh shit. Before I can react, I drop the guns because of the damn clicking sound near my ear.

She smirks with her nose turned up, "Looks like you're a dead man. Thanks for killing a bunch of men for me. All I got to do is shoot you and call in the kill of the year."

With the last word coming out her mouth, I knock the gun away from my head. She pulls the trigger. The bullet went straight into the wall. I quickly disarm her of the gun. She tries to recover it, but she didn't realize I had a silencer in my inside pocket of my outfit. With one shot, I make her stop dead in her tracks before she could reach her gun. She looks back at me irritated. I smile at her with comfort.

"Not so easy, is it? I had a feeling you were not a regular woman. It is a shame your former comrades didn't stand a chance against me. So, how should we end this? I can easily kill you before you get your gun. I can let you go, or even give you a bullet to your leg. Which one should I do for you?"  
She slowly shows off a smile and walks over to me with a sexy look in her eyes. I can't believe this woman is trying to seduce me into letting her live. She grabs a hold of my belt and gently strokes my ego. She is purring more and more as I let her come closer.

"Do you really wanna shoot me, Mr. John Death?" she asks seductively.

I bring her face closer to mines. I am more than ready to make her work for her freedom. The only thing that stops me is the trigger of my silencer gun being squeezed. The look of surprise in her eyes came as a shock to her. She falls on the ground, gasping for air. It is a damn shame I shot her. Oh well, easy come and easy go. Great, now the place look like a mess. Ugh, I swear I can never have a good night with any woman without there being some group of assholes trying to kill me. Not my fault I am good at what I do. Time for me to give room service a call. I went for my phone and dial up the only person I know I can trust with this kind of issue. Even, when the people are alive, Mr. Alfred Price is always willing to handle some of my issues. Every time my guests don't leave alive, he is the one to call. Within ten to fifteen minutes, Alfred comes up and nothing surprises him when he enters my place. I offer him some wine, but he declines and focuses on the amount of work to do.

He asks, "I guess you had to handle these rude people like the last group who ruined your time with Ms. Star Fire, the stripper?"

I replied, "Yeah, you know how it is. This time the woman was working with the bad guys. She was really good looking too, but a horrible manipulator. She convinced only four guys to join her pathetic cause to get me."

As Alfred made his calls for his usual staff to help him, I receive a text message from my employer. I get signed up with another job. I start going to my bedroom with Alfred following me.

He says, "Sir, my people are on their way over to pick up what is left. Is there anything we need to know so that the police won't get too suspicious about all the bullet holes in the wall? It has caused some of your neighbors to look in your direction with all the coming and going of the people who enter your place."

I change out of my clothes and answer, "Alfred, you know I trust you and your friends. If the police get nosey, just tell them usual stuff you always have. Even they get to demanding, let them know they can fuck off and walk right out the door they came in. As for the neighbors, they are not worth even getting mad over or cautious about. They stop paying attention to me long after I 'convinced' them to look the other way."

Alfred eyes the equipment I have on the bed. I say, "Yes, I got another job on the market, and now our chat has to come to an end. Here is two thousand bucks for you and one thousand for your workers. There's plenty more where that came from if you and your friends keep up the nice work."

Alfred sighs. I already know what he is going to say about my manner. He says, "Be sure you don't have any more uninvited guests over tonight, sir. The blood is never so easy to clean up when it comes to scrubbing it out."

I give him two thumbs up and assure him it won't happen again. I take my two heavy bags with me to the door. Alfred tries to stop me with more of his chit chat, but I have to go. This is a huge hit I have to do. My employer is not only throwing in a bonus but it includes sightseeing too. I rush out the door passing by Alfred's associates. I am happier than a man getting a blowjob. I zip down the stairs with no time to wait. I make it to the garage in ten minutes and spot my car. I throw both bags into the car and hop in quick. I turn and burn out of the garage quickly. I drive down the street going way above the speed limit. I get a call on my phone and good thing I brought with me my headset.

I press the talk button and say, "Mr. John Death, licensed bounty hunter and killer. Who can I capture or kill for you today?" Alfred's voice rings through my ear.

He says, "Sir, I have some news for you about your woman companion."

I stop him right there and say, "Whatever it is, I will deal with it when I come back. Until then, you deal with it. Take care of the place, Alfred!"

I hang up on him before he could even reply back. Good thing too! He would have talked me to death.

 **Day 42**

 _Specter_

The radio com is not working. It seems all communication went dead the moment the real fight began. All I remember was the last message broadcasting before the static: "This is not a drill. Unknown fugitives have attacked a relay outpost. They are heavily fortifying their position. Fifth platoon and second platoon move in with infantry and armored vehicles to suppress the attackers. Failure is not an option." From the roof top of where I am, I can see the area these attackers went through. They left more mess than trying to keep their activity quiet. Ugh, I always hate fighting against sloppy militia and unorganized groups of mercenaries. I had more challenges growing up when I was in guerilla wars years back. At least those battles had eye coordinating moments and clever traps for me to test. Instead, I now fight against mercenaries with an urge to be trigger happy. The way these groups did their patrolling made it horrible. I guide my eyes across the ground. I see someone is hurt and bleeding. He may have some useful intel for me. I put my binoculars away and look for an easy way down from this roof. Ah, this may be a way. I run across the roof. I get to the edge. I see a stair rail in good condition and jump to it. I tightly grip the metal to stop myself from falling. I drop down to another metal bar and grab as I keep going down a flight of stairs. I easily land on the ground and check my left and right side. So far, no patrols have come through here. I take notice of the main street and see the same man across from me. I go out into the open only to hear gun fire behind my back. Shit! Two more shots come close to my body. I hit the dirt. I look back up. Wait a minute, oh great. They shot the wounded man before I could get anything out of him. Now, they are shooting at my direction. I make a dive for a small hole in the street. They shout and curse out too much. I hear them coming closer to my area. Now is my chance.

I lay perfectly motionless in the small crater hole. They stop their small truck right in front of me just five feet away. They laugh and speak at the wonderful job they did. I have to be careful. No sudden movement or else they will have gun me down. I see two men walking over to the dead man they shot. Two more men walk ahead to look around the area. Maybe these guys are not as stupid as they seem. The last three men stand close by around me. They didn't even bother to see if I am alive or dead. They are about to have the fright of their last moments of living. I quietly grab the smoke grenades and gently pull on the pin. Two of the gunmen walk back to the truck and one joins his followers by the dead man. I take the pins out gently and throw both grenades to the sides. The noise startles the men, but they didn't know where to look. The smoke-bombs silently release the cover I need into the air. The men start pairing up, frighten by what is going on. They are so predictable. Within minutes, the whole area is foggy and impossible to see. I calmly get up and silently move around. It is a good thing I am ready for this kind of situation. I turn on my vision goggles to see pass the smoke and couldn't believe what I see. These guys are looking more forward than worrying about who is coming from behind their back. My first pair is at my right. I easily kill them both with a knife to the neck. I turn to see that the next pair advancing to the noise of their comrades falling. I take out my hand gun and easily put one down. One of the others fire his gun in my direction, but I throw the knife at his head. The fog is going away. I have to get off the streets. I quickly duck behind the jeep. I easily guess what the last guys will do next. I reach for my assault rifle. I come from behind the jeep and take them down with ease. The area is covered with more dead people, but who cares. This section of Russia is a war zone as of now. Just when I thought about moving on, a radio goes off. The signal is a little weak, but I hear it from one of the dead men. I walk over to where the dead man is. The radio he is holding keeps broadcasting some guy screaming his head off in Russian. I grab the radio and adjust the signal to a better frequency. This message is more than just some guy screaming his ass off. I know where to go now. Whoever is at the relay tower is asking for all men to come and reinforce it. The time for me to get there is critical. I jump into the truck. The keys are still in the ignition. I have a good idea about which part of the relay tower needs help. I have to get over there. After I start up the truck, I drive pass many hurt and dead civilians just trying to piece together what happen. I have seen death and destruction before to last a life time. In my home land of Russia, the recent rise of random mercenaries has become an epidemic to my country men and people. Every year around winter till summer, we have groups of armed mercenaries coming into this country. A few try to establish a foothold to declare a new order. We get plenty of gun happy maniacs, but they do not last long. For now, my home suffers from the three notorious gangs. The Red Sun mercenaries have the man power in the forest zone. All vehicle and armored car strength rest in the mountain area of the Berserker Boys. If these two should ever invade in full force, Russia will have to close it borders. Lastly, the Silent Mice operate very little; however, they have secrets that may prove crucial to any side they join. The only real trouble for all of these mercenaries is me. I am Nicolai. I am the Specter of Russia. I seek out the enemies of my home and destroy them. Most of the groups know of me; however, they never know when I will be around. Regardless of what they think, I vow to keep my homeland safe from anyone by any means.

No matter how large or small the conflict is, I am ready to face whatever stands in front of me. A few other Russian firing companies keep the scattering groups on edge. It is such a violent time to be in my country. Once I clear the city area, it is a straight drive to the relay tower. Nothing will stop me or make me change my course. If the enemy takes over the relay tower, this will hurt more than just soldier morale. Any relay lost to the enemy forces meant trouble for our country. They have taken others a few years back. If any more are lost, then it will be harder to anticipate the enemy moments. Each relay is useful when covering a large amount of miles. We had twelve. Now, with only four towers left under our control, we must not let any more fall or be destroyed. I make it to the relay tower. When I slow my truck to a stop, tt is utter chaos all around. I still hear the gun fire and explosions in the area. Right in the center of the land, the relay tower stands strong. It has suffered from explosions at the top and still has men all around it. The mercenaries are really trying to hold onto this one. In any case, I hope there is more fight at the center than what I encounter early.

I hear a loud pitch sound. Whoa! I get thrown to the ground unexpectedly by the explosive land mine. The timer must have been set to a late release time. I look back to see the truck completely obliterated and on fire. I turn back and see some mercenaries standing in front of me. They grab and escort me off to their boss. I didn't make it my task to be caught, but this will do. We all walk through the open terrain of heavy trees that have fallen over and bushes. A person comes charging out and stabs one of the mercenaries in the neck. The others gun him down. We get closer to the relay and rush to the opening doorway. A few mercenaries open fire into the opening and some more come pouring out. They brought me into the relay tower. The entrance is fortified with shacks and barbwire. I see the mercenaries ready to fire their guns the moment any Russia platoon comes strolling around their position. It is like a regular greeting for me. They have a pretty good setup here. A few shacks handmade were fortifying their area. They lay traps all over; however, they still have too much of a disadvantage against them. I am brought into the relay tower's central room. The boss is shouting his ass off. My laughter of halts the chatter. The boss of these mercenaries comes walking up to me. He starts speaking to me in Russian though I don't know why. We all use English, but I guess some want to keep to their ways.

He says, "What is so funny? You were caught by my men. Do you really think you I will let you live?"

I smile at him and reply, "The army of Russia has come for you. Your men are highly trained. The end results will be the same. You and your personal guard will die by Russian gun fire the moment the lights go off around here. You may get away, but I see the end going in favor of the Russian army. The tower will fall into the hands of your enemy."

They all laugh at me as though I lost my mind. The boss pulls his gun from his holster. He is ready to have my face no longer visible. Before he pulls the trigger, the power goes off. The lights off startle the mercenaries until one mercenary comes rushing to the boss. Whatever he whispers to him, the boss shoots him in the leg and calls for the remaining men left to fight. They all go to various positions around the area. Most of them rush towards the entrance of the relay tower. The boss orders his men to place me in the holding cell. They take my gun and knife from me along with the rest of my smoke bombs. I smirk at the idea that they will try to keep me as a hostage after their last stand is over. The guards tie up my hands with rope and throw me into the holding cell. After the guards left, I sat there waiting. Within a few minutes, gun fire is heard. I knew how this is going. I stand on my feet and struggle with my back pocket. I pull out a small knife and slowly cut away at the rope. Even though the enemy did tie me up, it would be smart if they left two guards behind to watch me. After I free myself, I move towards the cell door. I see yet another stupid mistake they made. They should know never leave any guns near prisoners, especially if the prisoner is a pro at escaping. Good thing they never check all my pockets either. I put away my small knife and take out my skull key. My skull key is the best and only object to unlock any door. After I unlock my cell door, I grab my weapons. I equip my gear back on me and slowly peek out around the corner. I see an empty hallway with no mercenaries. They must be still trying to push back the enemy. After I get ready, I move down to the next hallway. I am pretty close to the action. All I can hear is the Russia squads being pushed back by the mercenaries. They really are not trying to give up this relay tower. They have the Russia platoons under constant fire and keep them back. It is a shame they are not ready for my next trick when it happens. I move out into the opening. With no smoke bombs and hardly any light coming inside the relay tower, I have the perfect time to strike. I come to the corner of the hallway to hear the mercenaries shouting. It is a small group. I move in and open fire. They all drop easily. A handful of them come around their area and open fire down the hallway. Damn it! I should have been more carefully. I stay hidden around the corner. They stop firing and some men move in down the hallway. I am ready for the next target. After seeing the tip of the first gun, I rush into the side of the first guy. At the same time, I take out his partner and use their bodies as cover. The other men open fire again. I can't believe how tough they are making this. After the shooting stops, their leader comes out from behind the ranks.

He shouts, "How about this? You help me and my men get out of this. In return, I let you live."

I sit there under the dead body and think of the best way for me to get out of this. The man did present me with an interesting proposal. I am still stuck inside the relay tower with no back up. The rest of the entire area is crawling with mercenaries. I get up and walk over to him, extending my hand to agree to his plan. The leader has enough men to get to a safe area, but they need directions. I offer to clear the way out for him. The mercenaries gather at the hall way leading out the back of the relay tower. The leader sent me ahead. They even gave me back my smoke bombs. I go scout the outside. After a while, I let my smoke bombs go off and cover the area in fog. I call out to the mercenary leader and ask for him and his men to come out into the opening. Although he speaks hesitant, I assure him that the area is clear. I walk away from the area. I make my journey into the woods and smile at the surprises waiting for them. I radio back to the mercenary leader. The smoke from the bombs should be done by now.

"Your life may not be over for you, but your men will not live to see the next sun rise. Goodbye, mercenary scum," I said.

I switch off my radio frequency off and walk away from the area. I am long gone from the surprise, but the gun fire can still be heard from where I am. Soldiers of Mother Russia capture the most dangerous man now, but I fear I will see him again. Just before I get away from the area, I hear various clicking sounds all around me. I must use my last smoke bomb to escape, but I hear an old voice that brings me comfort.

"It is good to see you are not harmed, Nicolai," said the man with a raspy voice. He continues, "So, what brings you through here? You know you are way out of your area of work."

I answer, "It is good to see you again. I shouldn't be surprised to see you handling this kind of task. You usually handle operations that deal with more dangerous threats that come to our home. Here you are taking on a bunch of mercenaries. If it wasn't for this relay tower being under siege, I would have been talking to an unknown field op in charge of this group. Despite how everything went, it is good to see you again Rufus."

I was feeling good now that I see my old friend Rufus. It was a long time ago since we last were together for even a chat. Rufus orders his men to stand down. We give each other a warm welcome. I walk with his escort back to the relay tower. The wounded and dead of the mercenaries didn't surprise me. I hear from the chatter all around that their leader has escaped during the confusion. Oh well, one loose end usually ends up dead or lost in the world of chaos we live in. For now, I will relax in the glory we have achieved for our country.

 **Day 46**

 _Unknown Assailant_

The most challenging problem in this world today is growing flowers or plants. I always find them difficult to grow since every flower in the world is different. Some flowers grow fast. There are even flowers and plants that grow slow. I love watching flowers and plants grow. It is like watching a business grow and grow until the day comes for you to cash in your stock. Flowers and plants are perfect ways to test your patience, care, and devotion to how well you manage yourself in the business world. With time managed and devotion to a cause, anything can grow up to be a perfect plant. I remember spending so much time on perfecting the art of growing my first flower here in this glass house. It was easy to produce regular plants and grow them accordingly. My toughest challenge is making roses bloom greatly each time. It took me only six months to understand how to handle my first set. Although I love growing flowers and plants alone, I realize over the years that having more people to help can be greatly useful. It had been only one year after I grew my rose that help had to be brought in. The first few people I recruited brought plenty of knowledge for growing plants. They all are good at taking care of flowers and plants also. Since the beginning up till now, plants and flowers are now my specialty when I want to see them bloom. Well, everything this day is going good. That is until a certain "working" associate of mine comes walking by. He arrived not too long ago and has been waiting patiently till I am done with my plant work. I am still going to be at this longer than expected since this flower comes from a rare breed.

I explain, "You know the issue with growing flowers? They can be one of the toughest challenges if you don't know what is needed to grow them properly. Most flowers just require water, plant growth, or even sunlight. Roses need special care since they each require different amount of attention…"

Before any more words come from me, my associate wraps his hand around my neck shirt. My assistants come rushing from their duties to witness the wrath coming.

He says, "I am here to collect my cut, not hear any stories on roses."

The clicking noise from all around the area stops my associate from being hostile. We both look to see my plant assistants aiming guns at my direction. As much as these people love to grow flowers, they are handy with a gun. My top assistant comes right behind the associate with a gun at point blank range. The assistant is ready to fire, but he didn't expect this maneuver. My associate leans to the left and crushes his elbow against the face of my assistant. With quickness, he takes takes the gun from my top assistant and shoots him in the knee. I stand calm and relax only now my associate points the gun in my face. I raise my hand to remind the others to continue holding their stance. I assure them that everything is just fine.

I look back to the enraged gun man and say, "It is a shame you don't appreciate flowers or plants as much as I do. They give far lesser headaches than what a human gives when the situation involves money, power, loyalty, and honesty. Such things a plant will never give a person."

My associate slowly squeezes on the trigger and replies, "If I hear another word about flowers, rose, or plants come from you, these flowers will be all around your grave and within your coffin. Now give me my money before I decide to bury you."

I hear the other guns clicking from my assistants, but I smile and wave my hand for them to lower their weapons. Some almost didn't follow my command, but I give them my word nothing else will go wrong. I remove my flower gloves and untie my plastic, garden robe. I use some hand sanitizer and turn back to the man.

I say, "I will give you the money. Please, come with me to the main room. My assistants will take care of everything else."

He lowers the gun and hands it to me. I would have easily shot a hole in his head, but I can't stand blood on my work. With the attendants helping their wounded friend, I lead the enraged man back to the main room. We cross through the open front lawn of the plantation. Although this place was once a great estate for slave traders, I learn how to turn something ancient into a place for blooming flowers to grow. This season is at its finest once the winter went away. I can grow more than just my share of flowers. We arrive at the door of the mighty plantation. Before we step inside, I turn to my associate.

"Is there any certain way you want your money to be given to you? I would hate to see you unhappy any further if your money is not the way you want," I asked.

The tension slowly rolls off his back and he answers, "Make it all one hundred dollar bills. My cut is five hundred thousand large."

We walk inside the plantation. I remember how old, dusty, and worn out this place was. The stairs are fixed and polished. The old furniture was broken down or sold to antique dealers. It was some long, enduring months before we got this place looking young again. The irritated man moves quickly for the main room. I follow him closely even though he disrespects my place and top assistant. I come in after my associate makes himself at home by resting his feet on my hand carved table. I call in one of my other attendants. I whisper a few words and send her on the way. I rest my mind and pick up a book on managing flowers. The sight of my reading only increases the aggression of my associate. He puts his feet down off my table and leans in close to me.

He says, "It would be better for us both if the money comes sooner than later. Right now, my time is being wasted by this uselessness."  
I clear my throat and eye him as a sign of notice for his want of money. He leans back away from me slowly sliding his hand near his own gun. As we wait, the soft music plays throughout the mansion. I hear the others attend to their chores and making sure everything is in order. Ah, I love how things are going. It is moments like these that make it hard to believe that this world is full of chaos. I look up to find my associate near not only a plant of mines, but one of few that I take care of greatly. I place the book down and walk over to him knowing he is about to open the damn case of the flower I love dearly. Just as he is about to turn the small handle on the flower case, I stop him with my hand on his shoulder.

I say, "That flower is very dear to me. I would prefer if you did not touch it."

He turns to me and replies, "It is just a plant. I know you fancy growing flowers and planting shit, but this little green sprout is nothing special."

I keep my cool even though he insults my rare flower. The nerve of this man to call my plant a sprout is more insulting than having more than ten billion dollars. Even now, as he walks away from my flower, he still would not silence his need for payment. A few of my servants come into the room and observe with me how rude this man is towards me and my rare flower. I sit back upon my chair tossing through my thoughts only to be annoyed again by my associate. He gets in my face. The smell of his breath reveals how foul he is.

He says angrily, "Where is the money? Is this how you treat your guests? I don't think you realize who you are fucking with. This kind of treatment usual ends up with me painting the room red and using your guts as hanging ropes for my curtains."

I get up from my chair. I say, "Your patience is too short. You should learn to be more relaxed."

Before another word comes out from my mouth, I see the barrel of a gun at my face. Too bad he will not be holding it for long since my own staff within the room pull out their weapons. My guest looks around to see that if he squeezes his trigger, he will feel his body torn and broken in half with many guns blasting bullets through him. Before he speaks another word, my attendant comes back in time to hand him the money. My associate lowers his gun and goes to the lady. He takes the money with a greedy smile on his face. As he walks for the door, I call to him. He lets out a huge frustrated groan and turns to face me.

He angrily says, "What do you want, you flower growing bitch?!"

I rest my hand to his shoulder and say, "You must try this new scent. It was made from the growth of the flowers I planted."

I hold up a bottle of red desert rose colon and spray just a small amount on his neck. Some of it also gets on his hand from the second spray, but he just scoffs at me and turns away. After he leaves, my staff comes to me to express anger, joy, and caution.

One staff member says, "That guy is nothing but a thug for money. He needs to have a bullet put in the center of his skull."

Another staff adds, "I am so happy to know you are safe. It is a good thing you know how to handle him. Any other man of a lesser attitude would have crumbled at his mere sight."

A third staff member pleads, "I knew we should have killed him sooner than later. If something like this ever happens again, who knows what he may do to you. I have some men who can handle him today if you give me the word."

Before any more words come from my staff, I guide them to the front door. I unlock the latches and open the door. The shock comes to everyone. There he is at the front door on the ground gasping for air. My associate got no further than the welcome mat. My staff can't believe how fast he is chocking. I take the bag of money away and order two of my staff attendants to carry him away. I walk back to the main room to continue reading where I left off in my book. One of my staff members approaches me with curiosity.

She says, "What do you think killed him? When he left, he was as strong as an ox."

I answer, "Sometimes, the nature of plants can be deceiving to us even in the smallest forms."

I hold up the bottle of red desert rose colon. She looks surprised yet happy at the same time. Who would have thought that a bottle of a flower's smell would paralyze a human or kill one? I send her off to make herself some tea. I go back to reading my book. It is so amazing what kind of flowers I can grow next. I wonder what will be my next lovely flower that I will grow. Flowers, roses, and plants are always an easy step once you get the knowledge on how to give the right amount attention. My phone starts ringing. I hope this is not some wild bill collector trying to get his greedy pawns into my pocket again. I pick up the phone and answer it. It is my old associate Mr. Woodhouse.

"Hello Mr. Woodhouse. It has been a while you old coat. What news have you brought me this time?" I anxiously ask.

Mr. Woodhouse says, "Sir, we found four of them. They all are unique in their own way, but they all fit the requirements that you have for them. You need to be at the factory this moment sir."

I reply back, "Give me a few moments. I must make sure my staff and flower growers have their instructions before I join you at the factory. I will contact you when I arrive on the scene."

I hang up the phone and call all my staff to the main room. I assign each of them with various tasks for keeping the plantation in proper order. I head up stairs and get dress. I finally have the news that I want. It may have taken some time, but I got who I want for the future of my business. Within ten to twenty minutes, I am fully dressed in a white suit. You would swear I am getting married. I leave the house to go see my other assistants outside and instruct my flower attendants on how to keep the flowers looking lovely. With the last of my orders given, I say my goodbyes and farewells to my home of flowers. Every assistant and attendant walks with me out front as my limo driver opens the door for me. I look back to see my close workers wave goodbye to me. I respond greatly with a farewell and get inside my limo. My driver takes us away from the plantation. It will be another long time before I can enjoy and relax from work. The shameful part is that I won't be around to see my flowers grow and attendants expand my home of roses.

My driver says, "Here is what you requested, sir. I trust that everything is in order for your viewing pleasure."

My driver hands me a folder. I open the folder up and look through the papers. The names are unique, but the name hardly means anything to me unless they are truly capable of having the name they got over the years of work. I smile with some excitement after reading the info provides.

I say to my driver, "These men are unique by name. Each one of them has five papers long of the work they became involved in. I hope they are not like the last set of men we tried to recruit."

The driver replies, "We took great care of looking only for the best. They each have a high cost for use of their skills, but we can provide them more than enough money to satisfy even a prostitute for the rest of her retirement days."

I laugh at the last remark my driver made. I say, "These four men have the best skills needed for the task ahead of us, but I hope they are willing to work like so many of our other groups are. No sense in having them together if they each show signs of hostilities to each other. I remember the first group of men to the last. The first team was still the best, and now, all that remains of them is only one. Oh, where did we go wrong with them? It is still a sad thing to know that even the best of my teams can be more vicious than a newcomer ready to receive his or her first payment."

The driver adds, "Team work is useful for many of us, but not useful to everyone. Sometimes, it takes different forms of persuasion, leverage, cash, valuable items, or amount of something to make people work with ones they do not know or never wish to work with. I am sure this group will work together. We do have our ways of dealing with people who can't trust our ways. The last few groups that tried that saw how effective my methods are. I may not always be there to help you make better use of the ones we get, but I will make certain they know the penalty for not applying your rules to their line of work."

I always did have high respect and admiration for my driver. He was a former war hero, but he never tells too many stories to anyone. The only thing he ever told me when took the job as my driver was he always will get the job done no matter the cost. After driving far enough, we stop in front of an old house. My driver gets out and comes over to my side. He opens my door and escorts me to the place. I stop him just at the entrance way of the house. He bows his head and returns back to the car. I enter the house to find nothing but old, dusty furniture. Even though the place could use a makeover, this is only the beginning. I walk to the library room of the house and in the center of the room was a pool. The water is clear as the summer skies. You would think that the money was poorly spent, but I am not about to waste money recklessly. The pool has a glass top covering it. I walk on top of it and speak the words "In the name of Poseidon, divide this water".

With the words spoken, walls of glass rise up around me and the top is sealed. I begin my descent into the water. I take this moment to admire the water surroundings that now cover the outside of my glass transportation tube. When I had this under water elevator made, I was glad it can be made underwater. I see the many fishes and sea creatures lurking around as they wander aimlessly without a purpose. My glass tube stops at a small underwater port. The latch at the top slides open. Once inside the facility, the latch above closes. As before, my glass tube stands inside the larger glass container and locks to the floor once it touches down. Then, the water is sucked out of the large container. With the water gone, I step out of my elevator dry. There he is. I exit the glass compartment and find Woodhouse waiting for me.

"Mr. Woodhouse, it is good to see you again. I take it everything is ready for me," I ask him.

Woodhouse replies, "I see you have the folder of the names we selected for you, sir. They each have a different style of combat and weapon use. There seems to have some similarity like the ones we had before, but this time, it is different. I only hope they live up to what you hope for them to be."

I smile and pat him on the shoulder, "I am certain that this will be the team we need."

With that said, I and Mr. Woodhouse proceed to our next area. The walk to the main entrance is about ten minutes, but we have plenty of time to discuss the men he has found for me. Considering my second work place is not on the radar, I am glad it is underground next to the ocean. The entire base itself is large in size and massive in miles. No one knew this place exist, not even the men who work for me at my plantation can meet me here. The whole place is my home away from the flower house. Even though I live above the water, this will always serve as not only a second home but as a fortress with enough able body people to achieve my aims. I walk pass many of my workers and allies who greet me. Ah, I love being here. As much as I love growing flowers, this place fit everything right along with my life. As we continue to make our journey to the main control center, Mr. Woodhouse goes over the profile and skill reviews with me.

I say, "Tell me about the first two men. This guy here is an American bounty hunter; this one is a supposedly retired hit-man from Ireland. Why did you pick them?"

Woodhouse answers, "The American bounty hunter is well known for his success in capturing, hunting people of particular interest, and killing. Although he is always contracted by the U.S. government, he always takes on any job so long as it pays well. He is well trained in the use of heavy weapons and has studied some fighting styles, but mostly prefers to take the hits head on. He is a bit of a brute, but the U.S. government labeled him "The Walking Force of Death". The hit-man from Ireland is famous for his use of knifes and explosive. He learned most of his skills when he went to Great Britain. Every time in a fight, he uses guns, but favors knifes for their sharp edges and handling. He is as tough as the American bounty hunter, but knows when to anticipate movement from his foes. He was retired for two years. His reason for coming out of it was due to his and I quote 'old friends'. These men could be used to make up the fire power when it comes to destroying large numbers of people. I only recommend them if our hit-man isn't as good as we think of him. One is good at laying down firepower. The other is perfect for blowing up areas."

I applaud for the insight of the men. I asks, "And what of the Assassin? He should have some usefulness. I am really surprised about the last person you picked. Why pick him and skill set?"

Woodhouse says, "The Russian assassin has been the only human in history with capable speed and high effective shooting techniques. He was rumored "Sprinting Spirit" for his unusual speed. No one to this day knows how he moves so fast, but he gained the attention of many VIPs who want to see him in action. He studied a great degree of martial arts with some grappling techniques. As for the last man I pulled, his techniques are simple yet great. He was a Spec Op until he made that damnable mistake in his mission long ago."

Before any more words come from Woodhouse, I shush his voice and only smile at him. We walk to the main control room. As always, everyone stops and waits for my command. No one even dares move an inch till orders are given. I hand Woodhouse the folder and step to the helm of the room. Everyone looks at me with calm, relaxed stances.

I say, "I see you all have been busy. You all know what we are here to do, so let us not waste time with it. In the hands of Mr. Woodhouse is the file of the four men I need to be brought together. Each one has a name, a skill, lethal in the art of modern warfare, capable of adapting to their surroundings, and a price. We know they are out there in different parts of the world. Now we must bring them to my attention. We will find them and bring them here. Let them be lured to me by phone, letter, persuasion, and money. Bring me these men."

With that said, everyone acknowledges my command and start patrolling the internet for cell phone numbers, addresses, and anything else they could find out about them. I leave the helm and join Woodhouse at his side. As we go over the plans, one of my intelligence officers comes to me with a number. That was a little too fast and easy. Usually, they make it hard to find them, but I guess this first gun man wants to be found. Woodhouse dials in his cell number and calls.

"Hello, sir," Woodhouse says calmly, "Today is your lucky day."

 **Day 46 to 47**

 _Mr. Death_

"You called me at a bad time whoever you are," I stutter, "You may have to call back when I am done in about two hours. The position I am in is really serious here."

This mysterious woman's riding skill is on point. She is on top reverse cowgirl style and riding my shaft with authority. If I didn't know any better, she is trying to break a hole in the condom and bring us closer together. The harder she grinds herself on me, the more I have to apply pressure to her hips. Lucky for me, I always wear 2 condoms just to be safe. She moans loudly and talks dirty. I knew she is good, but damn, this is going into overtime. The nameless person on the phone is shocked at what is being heard.

He says, "Well, it sounds like you have your hands full. I will call you back at more proper time and discuss the money offer."

The very word 'money' causes me to push the woman up off me. She holds onto the head rest of the couch. I get right behind her and give her my all. She gasps so shockingly and can't even form a single word. As I pound her doggy style, I quickly stop the nameless man from clicking his phone off.

"Wait, what money? I hope you know that money is not a problem for me so long as the cash is right."

The man chuckles on the phone and replies, "We are a secret organization like many you have worked for. We have been looking all over the word to try and find people with certain skills. Your name came up and I decide to give you a call myself. We heard about how good your skills are and know it does not come cheap, especially since you are an American. So, we have decided to do more than pay for your expenses. We would like to meet with you."

As the more I kept hearing, my rod of wonder keeps getting harder by the minute. I keep thrusting the soft, smooth body of the woman. She moans with so much delight. Her hips thrust back and forward against mine as she could feel her whole body shake with pleasure.

"So, how much are you prepared to offer me?" I ask. I desperately try to not breathe too hard.

He says, "The amount we are offering you is covering all that you would request. First, we are paying for you to fly out. Second, we are providing you with some more advanced equipment that will enhance your skills and give you a variety of ways to execute or capture your targets. And the best part of this invitation is that you will get to use your wondrous tools against people of your talents."

I pause for a moment and ask, "How much does this pay for that you are asking me to use my skills?"

The moment I hear how much the payment is my rod of wonder becomes my pole of power. I gave this woman so much to the point of climatic eruption. The shouts of my ecstasy and screams of her satisfaction fill the room. The man on the phone didn't know if he is getting my attention or hearing our orgasmic noise. The woman collapses on the couch in front of me as I slowly pull out of her wetness. She breaths heavily and didn't even move. I pick back up my phone from the floor.

"Sir, are you still there? I just got done."

He laughs lightly and replies, "Yes, I am still here. You sound like you didn't need to speak with me anymore."

"No, no. I am ok now," I said. I continue, "I just need to know when you need me to begin my travel and where the money and equipment will be at. Right now, the amount you are offering me is way more than what the government has ever given me since my last serious hunt. For you to offer this much to me, it must be more than just a simple task of hunting down someone."

"Well, since things are so much better for you after hearing the offer, please come as fast as you can to the destination. You have been given a small, private jet and will be at the location within three days plus a few hours. I shall have one of my people take you to the meeting. Talk to you soon again, Mr. John Death."

When our lines disconnect, I feel soft touches on my semi hard-on. I look down to see the woman still ready for round two. I pick her up from the ground and gaze into her eyes.

I say, "I won't be able to finish the second part with you, but you are welcome to stay here till the sun comes up in the morning on the tenth day. I have to get going for work."

She seductively asks, "You sure you don't need a quick blow before you go? I can swallow anything you give me baby."

I think about it and greatly accept. I remove the condoms from my shaft. She gently takes it in and sucks with sheer perfection. She knows what she is doing, but I did notice a few times she is off point and starts to tease. I make up an excuse to stop her and get dressed. I hope in the shower for a quick brush up and rinse off. Once I am fresh from my shower, I throw on my clothes ready to go. I pack up my usual traveling gear. I bring with me a bag containing my disassembled machine gun with two bags for check in. As always, I left my servant Alfred to handle everything to the woman's demand. I get to my car. With money on my mind and new things to look forward to, I get a call. I answer it to only hear Alfred's voice.

"Sir, your new woman companion has an unexpected surprise. She was wondering when you will return."

I sigh lightly and say, "You can tell the new woman that she can wait there with the other woman. I got a job to do and money to make. So, handle it."

Before I let another word come from him, I hang up the phone. Tonight must be my getting tail night. Oh well, I got things to do. I drive off in my sports car with no more time to think about what mess Alfred is in. I am sure though he can clean it up like he always does. I arrive at the airport parking lot for passengers. Right before I can walk any further from my car, I receive another call from Alfred. I answer the phone to remind him to handle any issue with extreme care like before, but instead I hear a somewhat familiar voice.

"Mr. Alfred is busy escorting a wounded woman out the door. So, now you have me to talk with. I am sure you didn't forget about me and what happen last time we saw each other."

I say, "You have a voice that I do recall. I like to know who this is I am talking to. And what else you have done with my home? I hope you do know that you are messing with America's number one killer in the U.S."

"Oh, I do know who I am messing with," she said seductively. She adds, "I was messing with you a few weeks back before a group of men were put to eternal rest within your home. Even now as we speak, your very servant Alfred is ever so caring of your place. It is a shame that you didn't have me here giving you more pleasure than bringing home some slut to our happy home. I love it more if you only dealt with me. Alfred informed me in on all the details of your life style. I will have to wait till you return to show you just how much I miss you."

With the phone going silent, I question who the woman is. The lady in red? Can't be her. The woman I slept with months back? No, she got back with her husband. Oh shit. I guess this is what Alfred was trying to warn me of. Fuck it. She didn't kill him so I will deal with her ass when I am done with this job. I walk from my car and head inside the airport. The airport looks so much nicer on the inside. There are many security cameras, plenty of security agents, and lots of places to hide. I check my bags in and finalize my flight. I just wish my new contact would have given me more to work with. As I get my ticket and turn, a loud voice comes from my left.

He says, "Long time old friend! What brings you hear to the airport? Off on one of your adventures again?"

I turn to see Mack Thompson in a TSA uniform. He always said he was going join them and he did. He lost weight and is no longer the fat guy everyone calls him. As I receive my boarding ticket, he and I get caught up on things.

`"How have you been, Mack? And yes, I am off on another of my missions." I tell him.

He says, "Life at TSA has been good. Despite the constant annoying passengers who complain about their flight leaving them, my life has been great. And since you are off one of your hunts, let me help you get through security."

As we walk towards the entrance of security, the economy line is long and full. Mack got me to go through the express line. Even from there, Mack's influence over his coworkers allows me to quickly get through without so much screening. I could have easily flashed my government pass at them like before but seeing Mack work his magic is too hilarious. Once through, my phone is vibrating. I open it up to see that a new phone number had sent me a picture message. I open the text up. The photo wasn't a shock since it happen before, but it is a full body shot. Mack gazes at my phone with me and starts drooling a little. We both look upon a woman who is large on cup size and really naughty with a banana if she wants to be. As I close the phone away, Mack took hold of it and begins taunting me.

He says, "Whoa, now. Hold on a minute. Who is this sexy woman you got in here? You give her the business, man? You get pictures like this in your phone, but no face. How good is she?"

I snatch my phone back, "I never had the chance yet to give her the business. She is another complicated woman. Last thing I want is some complicated, crazy bitch living with me being my wife or woman of the hour. I prefer to keep these women interested in me but never falling in love with me."

Mack laughs and coldly replies, "Yeah, like all the other women you do that to. I know you still fucking with some of those nasty chicks. Too bad one of them got married. She really was ready to settle down with you, but no, you had to be the hoe of the relationship. So, you think you can try to keep your balls and chain on lockdown if the right woman comes along?"

Mack's words caught me off guard and I say, "Look, it is not even like that. You already know how I do things when it comes to women. Besides, this woman here ain't even close to the last woman I had. The woman I had was better."

"Better than the last woman like so many other times you told me. Every time, it is the same old shit," said Mack. He continues, "That is all you ever seem to be about. Every other woman is better than the last. When is one woman gonna be your last and only?"

I smile saying, "When one woman can handle me. Right now, no luck in that department and won't be for a long time."

Mack gives me a disappointed look, "Typical John Death. He kills for the U.S. government yet can't find a woman who can take care of him let alone his needs. You may hold some secrets from me, but we both know you won't be able to hold your heart closed forever. Some woman will get in there unless you prefer a man to unlock that potential."

I give him an irritated look, but deep down, I know he is right. I already lived the single life long enough. I will be soon twenty eight. It is time to start looking for someone to be with for the long run. As we finish up saying our goodbyes, I take my leave of him only to remember his words: "We both know you won't be able to hold your heart closed forever." The more I thought about the words, the more depressed about myself I got. How much longer will I be able to keep sleeping with a different woman every night? When will one woman be enough for me? Great, now I am depressed. I wish I can just sometimes pull out my guns, shoot up the area I am in, and die a death that is filled with sorrow and rage. I board my aircraft with a sad heart. The hunting job will change my mood hopefully. I take a look at the intel they sent me by phone. It just seems too easy that this unknown organization is offering me a mission without any intel about who I will be killing. I do love seeing how much they are offering me but it is still a huge surprise. At half a billion dollars, this person they want me to kill or hunt for them better be either another government official or corrupt congressman. Another email comes through and provides additional detail on where I will be staying. So far, the mission is looking nice. The first class flight is all good, but the place they have me staying at is over the top on being spoiled. The flight is a long one. I better get some rest in before I arrive. Man, I can't believe how far I have come. It is still a surprise for me that I went from a small time gang member to a high profile contracted killer. That's the life you can have when your mom is a whore and your dad is in charge of the street gangs. My rest is long and relaxing. I wake up to the sound of the pilot landing the plane. I arrive at my new location.

After getting off the plane, I turn on my phone to see that Alfred left me a bunch of missed calls to look over. Before I dial him, his call is already coming through again for the tenth time. I am already bored from my flight. The last thing I want to hear from him after a long ass trip is how my home is fucked up. You know what? To hell with what Alfred is going through with that unknown bitch. I am on a mission. America's number one bounty hunter slash contract killer doesn't have any time for some bullshit. I turn off my phone and meet up with a man holding a sign with my name on it.

"Ah, you must be Mr. John Death. I was told to escort you to your hotel and provide you with any additional intel you require. You will begin your hunt within three days against three others like yourself..."

I had to stop him there and boast, "There are no others like me. Only John Death leaves you corpses and gets paid high dollars. And as for the 'hunt', it will begin and end as fast as I get started butler guy. So, how about you take me to where I gotta go before I get 'bored' with you and drive myself?"

The escort smiles happily which gave me the creeps, but then again, I work in a business full of creepy people. It didn't take us too long to get my luggage and be on our way soon. The butler drives a nice car. The business he is with must be taking care of me greatly too. After a thirty minute drive, we arrive at a massive hotel and the party is in full swing. I pay no mind to the party people and went straight to my room. Even going there is a little annoying. I am getting hit on my drunken women and the alcoholics laughing it up. I get inside my room ok, but there it goes again. I hope this is not Alfred calling. Surprisingly, it is a number I didn't know and or recognize. I answer it.

"I was told by your man servant that you are gone on a mission. Well, that is fine by me. He also did show me the 'hidden' stash of a few thousand you have. So, while you are gone making us more money, I will keep your place well watched over and make sure you come home to a warm place. Oh, and be sure you bring me back something nice to wear and I may just consider you worth staying with in a relationship. Talk to you soon Mr. John Death."

Before I could even reply or ask any questions, the line goes silent. I can't believe what is happening. This mysterious woman is already claiming my place and trying to move in. Yeah, this chick must be not only crazy but professional in a sense of a way. Oh well. No time like the here and now to get ready. As soon as I receive my intel, I will get to it. A knock comes at my door and it just has to be that overly happy escort.

"I know this will come as a shock to you, but due to your early arrival here, the company is paying for your room and will contact you within a week to provide you with the intel on your hunt. Until then, enjoy your stay."

I open the door and stop him from leaving, "And just what the hell am I supposed to do for an entire week before I am given my target?"

 **Day 51**

 _Vector_

This is bad. I understand my next assignments can be or will be shitty at times but not like this. I get sent to a drug war between the police officers, the drug cartel, and the rival gangs that are looking to control the area. Nothing but a lot of dead people, wounded victims, and more violence. In the middle of this drug war, my next three targets. One person from the gangs has earned the mark of death. The second person is already well established within the cartel and making more reputation for personal gain. The last person is surprisingly on the police pay roll. It is time to go to work. I am knee deep in the warzone. Nothing but someone either dying or getting shot at. Every corner I turn has either gang members gunning for me or police officers struggling to handle some drugged up shooter. I come from an alley and right into five gang members. I take down two before the other three rush me. I quickly pull out my side arm and knife. These fools didn't deserve anything but a quick death. With them down, I move on to the next area. I'm in open territory and nothing can conceal me. I get caught in a spot light. Police officers surround me. Before I can be arrested, gang members come at the cops. In the middle of the gun fight, I dive for the side and crawl to safety. These gang members are carrying some serious fire power. They make short work of the cops. I come barraging into the next room to find a few cops alive and hurt. One bleeds from his leg. The others are bleeding in various places or scratches. The gang members push forward and get attack by more rival gang members. These hard hitting fools are packing more than just guns. Now they are blowing up the area with grenades. I shut the door and turn back to the police officers.

"Please, you have to let us go. We got wounded and don't wanna die."

I turn my back on them and head towards the door way. Right outside, the gang members laugh and cheer. They take cover and get ready to ambush the approaching group. I listen in to one of the radios by the wounded officer. It is an armored swat team ready to relieve anyone hurt. I look on to see the gang members ready to hit them with everything they got. As much as I want to continue the mission, I have to keep some form of conflict going in order to move around freely. I turn to the frighten cops.

"Ok, which way are your reinforcements coming from? Speak quickly if you wanna get out of here alive."

One cop hold his gun nervously, "Why the fuck should we tell you? You are not even a cop. You may be on the wrong side or with the cartel..."

"The group is approaching from the east," another cop says. She continues, "Once they get here, they may not be enough to stop the gang."

I reply, "Leave the gang to me. They may seem like they are unstoppable, but they can die like anyone else. Wait here and remain calm."

I look for stairs and head up top as fast as I can. These gang members have strength in numbers. The only way I can stop them is with leverage. I can hear the fighting getting underway. The gang members make more than enough trouble for the swat teams. I get to the roof and take a look down below. The armor swat team is being held back. They even got a few hurt allies in the cross fire. I take off my silencer and start picking off the gang members causing the most damage. The gang is now slightly disorganized. The swat teams move up and gun down the remaining gang members. I head back down and stay hidden from the commotion. With the scared and wounded now safe, I head towards the back room and head out the door. It takes me some time to get to my next area. With the patrols of the gang members and cartel battling when they can, I have to remain away from the conflict. I was burning too much time by helping those weak-willed cops. At least that woman has more of a backbone. I come across a few cartels standing guard. I pass by in silence and move closer to the main strong hold of the cartel. They had tons of drugs, weapons, and ammo they try to move out. I remain hidden inside the empty building and access my intel on the target. It reads:

"Cartel Enforcer. Name: Charles Morrow. Target will be marked with a white skull on back. Target is accompanied by commanding officers with red skulls marked on shoulder pads. Eliminate target to destabilize cartel stronghold. Eliminate additional cartel officers to help maintain confusion."

I refit my gun with its silencer and take my post. I easily see three of the commanding officers giving orders. No sign of the main target. Time to create a little confusion among the cartel. My first shot is too easy. The moment she went down is when all the cartel boys scatter. A second commanding officer began shouting orders, but it didn't last for long. I put that target down and his death causes a panic reaction to the others. The last commanding officer throws off his gear. One shot to his head makes it even better. The cartel scatters and tries to see where the attacker is firing from. Too bad they didn't expect a three point attack run from the gangs. Out from the sides with trucks armed with mounted guns, the gangs blast groups of cartel men and women to pieces. They fire back and manage to keep the gunners from tearing through them but it helps very little. More gangs come rushing from the south and blast away. I had hopes that the gang leader would be among them. I look closely at the gang take up positions and force the cartel back to the strong hold. Then, my target strolls to the front. At least the gang leader shows. I take a moment to make sure my intel is solid on the gang leader. It read:

"Gang Leader. Name: Blood King Raul. Target will be marked with various tattoos."

Looking back through my scope, I see that the intel is correct again. A huge hulking man with tattoos on his body. He has one of his members carrying a flag of truce. Time to get ready to put his brains all over the landscape. Wait, what is this? The cartel boss is coming out too? And the target is marked with a white skull on the back. Today isn't even my birthday yet I get to bag two targets at once. Time to break out the big gun. I place aside my gun and start to reach for my attachments to modify my gun barrel. If these targets are going to be side by side, I will need one shot to kill them both. I grab my two armor piercing bullets clip and load it. My time would have to be just right. I look back down my scope and there they are. With my modified silencer now ready to let loose, nothing is going to stop me. I take a few breaths and hold. Right before I can kill one of them, here come the police force. They force the cartel and gang boss to move. I still see them clearly. Boom! I fire my first shot and down goes the cartel target. The entire cartel almost went crazy with their dead leader in front of them. I see the gang leader ready to leave in his car. Not today little fucker! I squeeze the trigger and this bullet breaks through my target's head. With the gang leaderless and the cartel unorganized, the police have things going their way. It is time for me to escape and move to the final location. Though the enemies are not effective, this area will still see more problems rise up before order is established.

I reload my gun with standard bullets and rush for the streets. The gangs and cartel didn't make things any easier for the police or me as various wanna-be leaders try to take control. I run pass and gun down anyone who got in my way. My last target should be nearby since the police now have the enemy on the run. I come to a near-by police check point. They seem too relaxed to pay me any mind if I got closer. I listen in on their conversation.

One cop says, "Can you believe that moron did that? Now, I am glad he is dead. That fool tries to be the hero by saving his friends and got shot."

"Yeah, I know. He could have at least tried to stay in cover," the second cop says.

These two provide no help. Time to move on. Wait, what is this? Another cop is approaching them? It is the same woman from the group earlier. She looks pissed about something. I watch her smack the shit out of her fellow comrade.

"How can you sit here cracking jokes and down talk about him? He was the same foolish cop that saved my friends life at the cost of his own."

The other two cops gang up on her. They force her into an abandon building. She must have some useful info about who is who. I wait for them to return, but something about the way the other cops did her makes me wonder. I sneak off to the side of the building they enter. I hear them giving the woman a tough beating. Ugh, looks like I gotta bail her out of the jam again. I enter through the side door quietly and can't believe my eyes. These two fuckers are trying to rape her. One guy has his pants down. His buddy held her arms. Some of her clothes are ripped from her. She has been smack up enough and was damn near ready for them to have their way. The tears running down her face forces me to not play it quiet no more. I drop my stealth mode and shout at them from behind the kitchen bar. They turn to face me. I put a few bullets to their leg and watch them fall. One of them tries to reach for his side arm. I shoot it away and hold them at gun-point.

"Who the hell are you? Do you not realize we are cops?"

I smack him with my gun, "Yeah, I know you are cops. Two crooked cops that tried to rape a female cop while not dying like others. You give good cops a bad name."

The other one nervously pleads, "Hey, come on. That wasn't even the case..."

The woman smacks his mouth by pistol whipping him. I calm her down and hold her back. She shoves me back and pulls her gun on me. The same tears on her face shows how badly she is ready to kill. I nod and back up from her. Her eyes are full of rage and sorrow. She turns her attention to her attackers.

She violently screams, "You two sick motherfuckers! I may have seen my share of bad people but fucking rapists trying to be cops! We have people dying all around us. There are drug users trying to kill us. You two sorry ass cops are worse than the criminals I put away and killed today. You both need to die just like those cartel dogs and gang addicts! How the fuck can you call yourselves police officers yet rape a woman? WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

The fear comes from their weak pleads of mercy. She is ready to pull the trigger and use up her entire clip. I look around to make sure not another soul is near. We are free and clear until their radio goes off. She shot up both radios they have and puts a bullet through each of their shoulder. Now would have been a good time for me to say something, but I let her have her way. She earned it. Cop or not, a rapist deserves what is coming. I may be heartless towards who I murder, but rapists are the only ones I show no pity towards, no remorse, and damn sure no thought.

She throws off her badge to the side. Her lip is still bleeding. She rips open her uniform and is half clothed. She aims her gun at them, "So, this is what you want? You fucking dogs just looking to fuck since your wives don't want neither of you motherfuckers!?"

She pulls the trigger and kills the first cop. The other guy still has his pants down. He starts pissing himself. She shot him in the balls. The guy crawls and tries to call for help. She gives him a hard kick to his wounded pride. He groans and cries out in pain. After she unloads and reloads her gun, she empties the entire clip into the guy's head. She takes her last clip and empties it once again. She made damn sure he will not have a face to recognize any more. I look at the man. I can't believe it. His badge reads: Parker. He was my last target. I look at my intel and it read:

"Police Officer. Target: Joe Parker."

I look at the badge and still couldn't believe it. This dead man was Parker. I look at her with some annoyance. She got a little scared, but there is no point at being mad at her. She did my job for me. I may not get all my money, but I understand why this guy had to die.

"Thanks a lot. You just killed my target Joe Parker. You could have at least left his face intact."

She confusingly replies, "What are you talking about? That is not Joe Parker."

My eyes slightly widen with some shock. I question her further about the man she made faceless.

"The real Joe Parker is dead. He was with me when you helped us get some relief from the swat teams. He had bleed out before we could get him any kind of help. This prick here with no face is Tom and his friend is Bob. They had taken Joe's badge from his body and thought it would be funny to play around at a time like this. I spent the whole day trying to find it so I could tell his wife and give it to her personally when this was over. I just didn't know it was in the hands of two cop rapists."

She claims the badge for herself. I can't be mad any more. My last mark was already dead. I knew what her penalty will be if her friends found out she killed them both. I take her gun and start for the door. She calls to me and asks why.

I inform her, "I am taking your gun for a good reason. Consider this a friendly favor and farewell. You just shot up your partners despite the fact they were about to rape you. If your fellow officers found out about it, you will be a disgraced cop. Trust me; I have been in this kind of situation before. I may not see you again, but I am glad to know you are one of the many good cops out here fighting the good fight. If they ask you about these two, tell them some weird cartel member did this. The cartel guy tried to rape you and one of them died by the bad guys after he used your gun. As for the guy with his pants down, well, he was trying to take a piss at the wrong time. In any case, the rest of the story is for you to tell."

As I leave, she thanks me for saving her again. I start to make for my extraction point. Along the way, I throw her gun down a sewer hole. At least they will not know the truth. I may have helped the police stabilize the area, but they still have a war to fight. And like before, I have to gun down anyone in my way. I make it outside and away from the warzone. I only have a few more miles to go before I get the hell away from there. I try to call my informer. A mysterious caller starts calling my phone. No name is given. I answer the call and hear a voice.

"Congratulations Vector. You have done well in your assignments minus the one person you didn't kill. None the less, you have earned the right to see my contact. He right now is away. He has given me the intel you will need for your next mission. You are to report to the airport and process from there to a private flight he has prepared for you. As for your previous informer, they have been told of your new objective. They will be kept in the loop. See you in the next forty-eight hours."

The call ends. I am completely lost. My phone vibrates again and I check my account. I did receive my reward for my targets being killed, but none of this made any sense. I hurry to a good area and try to get in touch with my informer. The drive was a long trip, but I made it. I open my communicator and set up the uplink to my informer. The signal was weak.

"Vector...we have...heard of your contact. Proceed with your new tasks. Watch your back."

My instructions were clear even with the static. I have no time to rest. For now, I had to get to the airport. I didn't mind being called on another mission when I have no new targets; however, this is different. I don't know what to expect. The only good news from this last assignment was a dead gang leader, a dead cartel boss, and two cop rapists dead with a target that was not so bad.

 **Day 54**

 _Rampage_

These bloody knife wounds are always a bitch. This is why I was perfectly happy not being Rampage. Rampage is a pain taking hit-man who didn't mind getting cut. He also didn't mind getting shot at, fighting, or blowing up stuff to get away from bad guys. I was Wallace. The normal citizen that had a wife and child to be happy with. Now that's all gone. In order to know if my wife and child are even alive, I have to be Rampage again. That may be good for the people who want me to stay as a hostile killer, but it is no life for me. I still can't believe how fast you try to do the right thing and your old ways come back. At least the skills are handy to have. All I want is my life to go back to being ordinary. No more of this running around. No more getting shot at or a knife cutting into my shoulder. And no more of this 'next assignment' shite either. Great, now my phone is going off. Why can't these bastards wait till I get done cleaning up? I am still patching up the blood wound in my arm. I better accept the call and see who this bastard is.

"That last mission could have been better for you Rampage. You may have taken out your target, but no one likes a mess. Especially not us. We don't need you mucking up our reputation ya nit. If we didn't acquire..."

I cut him off, "But you stupid clowns do require and need my skills. You already know my methods. You already know where my wife and child are at. And you bloody damn well better tell me of my next target before I decide to just blow up your organizations around town."

"Patience, Rampage. You will get the chance to be reunited with your wife and child. And as for your next location of your target to be eliminated, we are sending you to a popular spot in this part of town. Unlike the last place, this area has been demanded by our associates to be torn down and made ready for new places. So, you can do as much damage as you can. Your associate will be waiting at the site for you."

These cunts think this is a "Do as we need" task. They just better hold up their end of the bargain on my family's safety. I slap a large bandage on my wound and grab my gear. I get to my old built up car. It looks like shite on the outside. The inside of my car houses every weapon in sight only each one has to be assembled. I drive out the garage and gun it down the street. The coordinates of this place seem familiar. I reach for my phone and pull up the map. To my surprise, the area is near an oil company that went out of business. This oil factory is far from town that the only way to see it was from the hill top. I come to a stop sign and pause for a moment. I see a man and his wife walking with their son. It is a beautiful sight to see. The child is so happy. I look at my only family photo of my wife and me with our child. I promise her that I would keep her safe. A car flashes it lights behind me. I gun it through the stop sign. Only another mile before I get to my contact and get started. I would not hold back. This is where my talent would be put to good use. I pull up to see my contact standing near his car. He must have the actual location of where I have to go. I get out and greet him like all my other associates with two questions.

"Where is the bloody location? Who the fuck will I kill?"

He says, "Your location is this hidden facility near the oil company. There are some annoying little cockroaches at this site and must be removed. They have been trying to build up a drug lab and distribution center here for their drugs. Your job is to go in, stop all drugs producing, and make sure the place is removed from the area. The second part of your job is to obtain a sample of this stuff for our own use. More importantly, leave no witnesses alive. Understood?"

I take my leave of him only to hear the words "fucking twat" come from his mouth. If it was not for the love of my life and child, he would have his teeth on the ground and his guts hanging everywhere. I get back to my car and take my pick of weapons to use. I grab a few parts and assemble together two gun. The stainless steel handguns are my pride and joy. I grab a few other devices to make sure that this place would fall under its own weight. Once I have everything, I drive to the facility. This is getting too old to keep doing. I pass up a few other cars before turning down the dirt road. The only shit part of this job is obtaining the drug. Whatever their purpose is for it doesn't concern me. Once I arrive, I have to admit how well the area was hidden. Who would dare come near a place such as this? Not to mention, the outside of the hidden drug facility looks so rotten. I park my car just around the corner of the oil company. I conceal my guns and slowly walk on over to the entrance. I see two guards armed with a shotgun and machine pistol. Those guns will be great with my collection. Now, two more guys come from out of the place. This will be a cake walk if I didn't want to be loud and nasty. Now, here come the two men ready to start asking me questions. I better give them the answers they want.

"This place is off-limits. Who are…?"

I pull out my throwing knives. With two knifes going into their head, they fall to the ground. The other two try to reach for their own gun, but they are not as fast as I am with my knives. Now that the front door is clear, it is time to get ready to go in and clean house. This is the best time to have a little classic music playing for this. I place sticky bombs on the corners of the door top and bottom. I step back and reach for the detonator. With one click, the doors blow inward. I switch to my stainless steel handguns and go running in. I turn to my eyes to the left side and spot one. Easy kill. I look to my right seeing two more coming at me. They went down. I start running and shooting at the gunmen to my left and right side. With no time to wait, I roll to the floor and start throwing sticky bombs everywhere. I jump back up and fire at the bombs. Each one erupts and cripples the podiums holding up the ceiling. I look ahead and see more coming at me. I better pick up the pace and hurry. I put down more of the men until I get tackled. This guy is a huge brute. With no guns and me getting bear hugged, I have to get away. I smack him hard on the ears. He throws me to the floor right by one of my guns. I grab it and pull the trigger. I put one in his shoulder. He still keeps coming at me. He twists my arm hard. Before I can react, he crushes his fist into my jaw. I stumble back and lose my gun again.

I scream, "Alright, ya big sod bastard! Let's see how hard you can hit me again!"

I charge at him and he comes at me full force. I fall to the floor and slide by his legs. With two kicks to his shins, he barrel rolls to the floor. I get one of my other guns and put it back into my harness. No need for my guns. I need my knife for this big pig. I get my last gun and back into my harness it goes. I pull out my custom made knife. The big guy comes at me again. I leap for the wall and press off of it. I fall to the floor and stab at his knee cap. I roll under his legs and slash at his back. He turns around quickly only to get his eye cut out. With one of his eyes gone, it is easy to pick him off. A man comes around the corner and starts blasting away his two barrel shotgun. I get behind the big man only for him to fall on me dead from the close range shot. I am quick enough to pull one gun from my holster. The gunner moves in. I squeeze my trigger finger and hit him in the leg. He tries firing his gun again, but I sent another bullet right at his head. God almighty, this big guy must have eaten someone before he died. I squirm myself free and continue down the hall. More and more, they all try to stop me. And more and more bullets have to be used for me to kill each of them. I throw out some more sticky bombs and shoot them. I cause enough damage to make another section of the ceiling collapse. I get to my next area. A double door is closed to me. I put my ear to it and hear various clicking sounds coming from the room. I step to the side and wait for a few seconds. I push open the door from the side slowly and a barrage of bullets flies into the wall. These cheeky bastards are not playing. I am not playing either. I pull one of my special bombs from my pocket. I usually never use it unless I have no choice or in tight spots. In this case, I was allowed to go all out with my talent. I make this bomb with a special time on it. I click it once and throw it into the room blindly. After three seconds, the bomb goes off. It leaves the ceiling and walls cracking slowly from the explosions. I rush inside and gun down some more foes. I can see my next door at the end of the room. I start shooting my way to the end of the large room. I didn't need to kill them all these men in here. I throw another special bomb out to the side. Three seconds went by again and kaboom. I run pass a lot of them and the ceiling is ready to crack. I toss two more bombs in different areas. Once the blast went off, I only have a few seconds to get through the door. The explosions cause the ceiling to break and fall. I gun my way to the doors and dare not look back. I hear the men screaming their last breath out before being covered in metal, stone, and wood. I fire my guns at the door handle. With a leap of faith, I hurl myself towards the door and out of the room just in time. I startle the next the next group of people, they all are chemists who made these drugs. None of them dare move an inch. I walk to one of them and look at what he keeps on the desktop.

"Is this what I think it is?" I ask.

The nervous chemist nods. I give him my flash drive and point the gun at him. He starts downloading the flies. I check back at the other chemists and fire a warning shot at one of them. This sullen whore tries to creep out. I aim my gun at her and she stops. In a matter of seconds, I get all that I need about the drugs on my flash drive. I take the data and walk to the side door with the exit sign. I open it to the outside nearby parking lot. I look to all the chemists in the room.

"Today is your lucky day mates. You can walk out of here, get into your cars, and never let me see any of you ever again."

One of the chemists replies, "If we leave, they will kill us."

I look at her annoyed, "Kill you? Motherfucker, I will kill you. I just will enjoy it more. So, once again, leave now or die."

I hold open the door and every one runs out and starts looking for the keys. With them now gone, I continue on with my final phase of taking down the building. I head up stairs and found various rooms on the second floor. I begin checking out each room to find either people who need to die or people already dead from an overdose. Be they innocent, a junkie, or nobody, everyone on this floor will not get to the first floor. I climb one last set of steps. I dive for the side wall and just in time before an armored gunman's machine gun puts me down. The hallway is a long straight shot with no doors on the side. I had to get to the last room and confront the so called King Pin. I pull my guns and get ready to run and gun down this long hallway. I take a few breaths and run down the hall shooting at the gunner's armored head. The bullets knock his focus off balance, but he still manages to graze my arm with a few bullets. Nothing but the sound of that damn gun makes the hall way ring loudly. Ouch! A bullet now struck my leg. Even though I got grazed by it, hurts enough. I get close to the gunner and see him moving forward. I fire at his legs and put him down. I put a few more bullets in his side to cripple him from moving. I pull out my knife again and drive it into the exposed part of his neck. It is time to go meet the dead king-pin man. I shoot the hinges off the door and kick it open. Looks like I am right too. The dead king-pin man makes sure he will not see me after he puts his brain all over the wall behind him. With my task over, I head back towards the exit downstairs. My phone rings and I answer it.

"I hope you are done with your little gun and run killing spree. I just sent over a few of my boys to make sure the facility is no longer on the map. They are testing out some military mortar shells. You will want to see the fireworks."

Once I hang up the phone, I start running for the exit despite the limping I have to do now. The shells from the mortars land around the roof of the building. The debris starts hitting my body as I finally come to the side exit down. I was about to make it out until a mortar shell explosion collapses the wall and seals up the exit. Fucking great! Now I got to run straight for the front door if I can get out through my own damage I did to it early. More sections of the building start coming down around me. I heard more and more shells coming down on the center structure. I see my only chance to get out. I rush and start pulling rocks away from the window. No fucking way would I be trapped and crushed in a demolished building. I threw my gear out first and pulled myself out to freedom. I look up to see six more mortars being fired. I grab my belongings and make a fast dash for the side line. I get clear of the blast zone. I look back to see that nothing is left of the drug facility. Only a pile of stone, metal, wood, and drugs now sit on fire. I get back to my car and find the same guy waiting for me. He must have followed me.

I start in on him, "You bloody damn well better explain why my informer thought bombing the place was a grand idea with me still inside. I was already going to blow this shite up my way."

The guy smiles, "You are lucky he didn't order me to kill you. My informer wants me to make sure his mortars work for the next phase later on. We do have though some fresh intel on your wife and child. Head back to your place and wait for a cell phone to arrive to you."

With no idea about what transpired, I went ahead and left. I keep at a steady driving pace so I would attract any attention. The nerve of that moron to bomb the building I was in. That was an insult, but it was more personal when that damn informer threatens me. I swear once I get my wife and child back, these men will be killed. I make it back to my place and wait for this surprise to be here. And once again, I have to clean up my bloody leg and suit. At least my new bomb types I made worked out well. Next time, I will have to go bigger than what they did. A knock comes at my door. I limp on over to it and open it. A man with a letter falls on the floor. He has been shot. What is this crazy shite going on here? He gives me the letter and breathes his last breath. I open the letter and read:

"I send you my praises Rampage, the extraordinary hit-man, on a job well done. You survive not only the mortar shell bombing, but made sure those innocent chemists were lead right into our trap. It would have been a shame if they did get away. I am sending you this letter to let you know that there is one job left for you and we will let you go; however, the plan has changed a little. Not to worry though…"

I couldn't read the rest due to the blood on it. My phone rings soon after I drop the blood covered letter. I answer the call to hear someone new.

"I am sorry but your recent informer and contact are no longer in control of the situation. We have taken the liberty to remove them from the picture and invite you to join us at our instillation within three days after this call is complete. You will arrive at the airport, use our private jet, and be invited to our exclusive club. Bring your skills and your gear with you."

The phone call ends. I am once again left in confused state. A text message goes off on the phone. It shows a picture message has been sent to me. I open it and was given hope. My wife and child were alive and well. They picture message also read:

"Your wife and child are safe and sound within a hidden location. If you complete the final task we present you, they will be returned to you unharmed. Our contact is waiting at the airport for you at the cargo loading dock with the plane. He will tell you the rest of the intel from there."

I didn't know what else to say, but this is the moment my killing ways will be over. I grab up what I have left and bring my heavy suitcase with me. Once I get to my car, I grab all my gun parts and place them inside. I can't still believe they are alive. Whoever this person or group is just made my day better. It is time to go and get my family back from this life and end this nightmare forever.

 **Day 60**

 _Nicolai_

Today is a good day for people to die. The sound of gun fire rings through the air. The shouting and cursing from various people is heard. A lot of explosions are occurring at every moment. Mother Russia may be getting new enemies on the soil, but she will always have many ghosts that still live on in her memory. For me though, I am the specter that haunts her enemies on the battlefield. There will be no place, no building, no corner, nor an alley that Mother Russia would not have enemies crawling out of without her specter, her phantasm of war gunning them down. For my country, I will stop all. I was already walking away from another well fought battle. Some imperialist dogs thought they will bring forth a new dawn for this land. Too bad for them though. The last thing they remember seeing was a blur moving faster than any human on the field. I get in touch with my employer about my next job.

"If there are any more battles, I need the next location of where they are."

My employer answers, "Right now, things are quiet. The western front is being carefully watched. As for the southern territory, they are being under observation by local law enforcement. Everywhere else is all quiet. For now, take some time to relax. I will let you know even if someone breaks into a store."

With nothing else to do, I drive away to my home for some good R & R. I couldn't have asked for a nicer house than a beach house. Nothing but the sand and water to keep my mind calm. After I get home, I have a package waiting for me. It is small. I open the package and found a phone next to a letter inside. The letter simply read:

"Answer the phone call in the next five minutes."

I went inside and prep myself a snack while I wait. Hopefully, this isn't a prank call or a stupid setup to get my face blown up. The phone rings after five minutes. I look to see who is calling, but it only registers an unknown number. I pick up the call.

"Specter, we finally get the chance to talk. You are a hard person to reach. I am in need of your presence and your skills for an assignment."

I reply, "And whom do I need to display my skills to and for?"

He says, "My client needs Russia's famous Specter to arrive at a place. The location and coordinates are on the back of the letter. For now, think of my client as a very wealthy man whose environmental demands are not being heard. If you can arrive here within less than a week, you shall be richly rewarded. I was last told you were in the middle of helping out your country men fight off some enemies. If it takes too long, then I will inform my client to give you an extension as much as I can."

I laugh hearty, "Do not let your client worry his head off. I have one more task to complete and will be on my way within a matter of three to four days. For now, I will talk to you within three days."

I go back to enjoying my relaxation. Usually around this time, I am getting a call from Rufus about joining him on some crazy mission. It is a good life for me at the moment. I decide to rest for a few hours before I head into town. A lot of peace and quiet makes everything clear. I awoke around evening time. I look at my phone to see that Rufus left me a text message for a meeting time. I throw on something causal and head out the door. On an evening like this, most of my nights are spent in defense of Russia or assassinating someone for intel. I head into town and meet with Rufus at the local restaurant. He starts calling my phone.

"Good evening, Rufus. I am on way to meet with you. I hope you and your friends are not having too much fun without me."

"This place could have gone worse if the captain had joined us. For now, you can expect me and my friends here. See you when you arrive."

It seems like nothing else is going on and things are going good. I arrive at the place where Rufus and his friends are. They seem relax and well dressed for this night. The restaurant always served good food. I see Rufus orders the usual. He has a plate of baked chicken, fried rice, corn on the cob, and a side of greens. I join him and hear his most trustworthy comrade, Felix. It seem like forever since we all had a moment to enjoy ourselves. We are having a good time. From catching up to retelling old war stories, the night seems to go on forever. Rufus manage to turn a few mercenaries to our cause with promises of wealth or a house. Felix continues to keep morale high with promises of more battles to come and plenty of merc blood to spill. For now though, we have Felix's story of rebel destruction making us laugh at the good old days.

Felix says, "The day you helped Rufus capture that rebel base must have been child's play for you. Who else allows the enemy to take you and bargain a deal with them? Only you Nicolai can be a two faced back stabber."

"Well, I did get the chance to walk away free; however, how could I when I knew what area to send them to? Plus, I am sure Rufus had already tapped my radio com and listen in."

Rufus adds, "I only keep an ear open for one particular radio com you use. This time I had to thank the enemy for the weak signal they kept trying to get out to their main base. With the relay tower now under our control, the enemy has been pushed back to their main camp. I hope this war between us and them ends quickly. We have lost more than enough relay towers in the past."

"For Mother Russia, we stand strong and powerful!" we all cried.

After a few more casual drinks, the door swings open and it is quite the surprise to all of us. The captain and his lieutenants are dressed in casual attire and smiling more than ever. Every quiets their chatting and looks on with pride. The curiosity of some begs for the explanation. One of the lieutenants sits beside me with a smile on her face. She even greets us with a smile.

The captain clears his throat, then claps his hands together and says, "Today is a good day for Russia. Not just for the commanding officers, but the people have reason to smile and enjoy this night and many more. I stand before you all to celebrate a victory for the troops and people of this great land. At 1900 hours, the mercenaries have decided to retreat and flee from our lands. The commanding officers were found dead and only a handful stayed behind to give him an honorable burial. Our 3rd and 4th platoons capture this handful and sent them to imprisonment for the rest of their life. With this victory, our lands are safe once more. Drinks are all on me!"

The lieutenants shout, "None can match our power! Long live Russia!"

With this news coming to us, we all enjoy our food and drink without any more worry about being deployed. I excuse myself from Rufus and the others to call back the mystery informer. It seems like they would not be in need of me to help them at all now that the war at home is over. The phone starts ringing and I answer the call.

"I see that I may have wasted my time returning your call. I just want to congratulate you for a job well done on the war in Russia. Because of you, your comrades have won a small victory now that the mercenaries have left your lands. Though these troublesome animals left Russia, they may return. My inside informer did over hear the new leaders talking about getting some better weapons from a place not too far from where I need you to meet with my contact. I am still looking forward to your reply as to whether or not you will be coming to our little gathering."

Without hesitation, I agree and add, "You can expect me in exactly five days. Leave me any intel on this phone and I will follow the instructions."

Instead of looking forward to having a quiet vacation, I look forward to a possible return of trouble. This mystery person is too well informed of Russia activity. I look for Rufus and ask for a huge favor since tonight is looking good. With a few strings he pulls from his drunken captain, he set me up with a military flight to my next destination. I stay for a little longer before I head home. I haven't seen the captain get so drunk in ages. Not to mention, the lieutenants are more than flirty tonight. Although tonight is going great for us, the caller still makes me feel uneasy. Something didn't feel right about this whole thing. If the mystery caller already has an informer inside the mercenary army, why bother to call me about it. The more I thought of it, the more it didn't add up. I get my gear ready for the trip tomorrow and pack plenty of decent clothes for some occasions. It will be nice to first enjoy the surroundings before I kill anyone. After I get done showering up, the rest of my night is sleep time. There is nothing else to think of but the smell of booze and delicious steak to relax me. My country may have been safe for now, but enemies will always be around and ready to fight. I drift off and finally dream of peaceful times.

The loud alarm clock wakes me up to see the sun coming up over the horizon. It is time to get a fresh shave and look good for the day. I always did hate using a razor since they remind me of some incidents a long time ago. Even now, I look at one and the memories of that fatal day come at me. Once I got myself ready for the day, I pack up my stuff and drive for the military airstrip to meet up with Rufus. More intel comes to my phone about how well everyone is doing. It seems that the war we had gave everyone a boost of confidence and relief. I get there to see Rufus already drinking his cup of coffee.

"So, you have a hangover from last night or just need a boost?"

Rufus weakling laughs, "Yes and no. Yes, I need coffee from the hangover. No, I don't need a boost from having a friendly brawl last night with my comrades. All I need is to relax after we get you into the air and go back to basics on informing my friends how to not get caught from a 'low blow' tactic."

I give Rufus a friendly slap, but he damn near falls over. He has one of the troops take my gear and luggage to be loaded. This soldier looks like he went three to seven rounds of hard boxing. A bruised eye with a small band-aid over the cheek will cover up any leftover marks. With my items loaded and the friendly farewells, I climb into the aircraft and hear the freedom cries of fellow soldiers ready to give their life. It always makes me proud to know that there are good troops in this world who want to be either the best or give their life to serve a greater purpose.

 **Day 62**

 _Unknown Assailant_

"Sir, I have taken the liberty of informing each of the specialists that you wish to enlist. It was almost too easy for some of them, but thanks to a few words and payments, they each will be on their way to meet in the known location you told them of."

I ask curiously, "Who are they and what are their special abilities? I have been so busy with the financial transactions so much that I have forgotten all about them. These groups of hired-guns and mercenaries can be so demanding for their payment. I am glad you keep track of them."

I grab the files on the special characters that Woodhouse has at his station. He always did keep information in order about any mercenary, assassin, hunter, contract killer or bounty hunter. We walk down the hall to the next room. I have to go address some others that enlisted into my company.

He recalls the information and begins, "The first one is Shaun. Code Name: Vector. He is a former Spec Ops. He is now a mercenary on loan from France. The next killer is John. Code Name: Mr. Death. He is the Bounty Hunter from America. This Wallace guy was a retired Hit-Man known as Rampage, but he is back in the game. He is from unknown parts of Ireland but moved to Great Britain. Lastly, the late recruit is Nicolai known as Specter. He assassinates various threats to his country in Russia. The skill set each of them have are various, but they do have some similarities. Vector uses camouflage technique, martial arts and carries a standard assault rifle. Specter has been rumored to be faster than most known combatants, kick-boxing master and uses a 45-calibur sniper rifle capable of being altered into an assault rifle. Mr. Death is quite a pain taking brute using only hand guns and is close quarters expect. He usually prefers machine guns but does prefer a handgun at times. Rampage is a knife and bomb fanatic and is able to bring down any organized crime. They all excel in guns, fighting, and have a special talent. Do you need to switch them out or will they be enough?"

"They will be more than enough. Granted, they all never have any history of working with a partner or unit, I believe they can be effective against what we have in store for them. See to it that their location has them all coming to the party within five days. I want them fresh and relaxed before they get to the fun."

My working associate asks for any additional tasks, but I leave him with the current instructions at hand. Once he left, I begin to think long about the four he told me of. Each of them reminds me so much about the last group. The only problem with this group of men is what they do. They have never worked with others unless they had to. I look forward to seeing them in action. They may just be the perfect team. I can only hope they do not turn out like the last ones. I make my way to the end of the hall and open the door to see a gun pointed in my face.

"Are you ready for the extreme?!" The fanatic screams.

I smile and calmly reply, "If you shoot me now, then none of you get paid. Then, the room fills up with gas and dead bodies will be everywhere. So, to those who want to be alive and get paid, let your associate know he has to calm down."

Before any word is said, one of the killers shoots the crazed man in the head. He reassures me that his team will remain loyal and never raise a gun to me again. At least some have a code of honor than to act so shameful. I make my way to the front of the room. I am surrounded by groups of men and women. All of them have killed, fought, and took the life of people. Some are good. Others are bad. A few are corrupt to the idea of power yet very little may be saints. It makes no difference to me. All I need from this room filled with killers is only a handful. I turn to face all my new and well known friends. It is time to pick.

"To my fellow new comers and familiar faces, I say unto you: Salutations. It is still surprising to me that so many of you joined. Each of you has excelled at your abilities and how well you can manage yourself as a team. I want you all to know you won't be leaving empty handed at all. Right now, only ten of you are going on a difficult task to further earn the biggest amount of money. The rest of you will have several different choices, but first, let me pick out my top ten favorites."

I go by and start picking out those who show promise and that went beyond average. The look of anticipation on each face makes it difficult to pick. Only half way through my selection and someone just has to beg. He begs so hard that I swear he will kill everyone I pick in the room to be the one of my many favorites. I let me on the group only to receive laughter from others at how badly he begged me. Once I picked my top eleven, I sent them ahead to be equipped with the best weapons, armor, and useful kits I have. The rest grumble, complain and boast how it should have been one of them. Now it is time to set their mind at ease.

"To those of you that remain, you will not be leaving empty handed as I said. Some of you can leave right now. I have rows of cars outside and each has five hundred thousand dollars in it. If you wish to leave this place, feel free to take the car and go. There will be no hard feelings. I will wish you the best after this is over. For those of you who wish to stay, you will be given one small assignment to do within a few days. All I ask is that you go to your bunker and slip into something casual and remain alert for a message to your phone. If you have any questions, ask one of my attendants. The rest is up to you."

I take my leave of the group. Along the way, I run into one of my many associates. She seemed lost for words. She informs me of the incident outside. Most of the base goes on alert and everyone is scrambling about. I arrive to the main observation deck. I ask for a situation update. Most of the various reports I hear are about an attack on the surface. Suddenly, the room goes dark before the backup generator turns on leaving only the emergency lights on flashing. I ask around for everyone to regain control of the problem, but the problem reveals itself. Never again did I think I had to see that same God damn symbol again. All of them are still willing to carry out their brand of justice against me. On every monitor, the signal of the carnage outside my base is broadcast to all channels.

The leader says, "Look at you now vermin. You try and recruit others? Such disgraceful acts will lead only to your demise. You want to build a team? Go right ahead. Just remember the ones you let go of when you showed them the door. Now that we left you a message with your cars blown up, I hope this will remind you of what we can do. Farewell for now."

The video feed goes dead. Once the system comes back online, everyone resumes their damage assessment of the facility. I knew the attacks were getting worse each time, but this is pushing it. Last time, they hit close to home. My staff looks to me and I address them.

"Our base is always in need of repairs or changes. We already know they hit us a lot, but we shall not give up so easily. All of you know what must be done. I will go ready the soldiers I picked to hunt these rogues down."

I left the room with rage and fury swirling in my mind. Nothing else can make me any more madder. Not only did our base get attacked again, but this time, the leader threatens to insult my attempts at recruiting more to my cause. With so much riding on this, I have to make sure the group going out will be properly motivated to kill. These people must die and soon. I arrive at the hanger to see the troops anxious to know what is going on. I can have sent them off in a better mood, but not this time. No time for friendly gestures or farewells. It is time to be raw.

I stand in the center of the most deadly people I recruited. I look to them and say, "I want all of you…to find these destructive, mad people. The group you are going after is highly skilled and will not pause for a second to kill any of you. Each of you must be better than before you came to me and prove why I need you for this assignment. The ones who did this to my base must be killed. So, go and bring me their head. For each one you kill separately, I will reward you with enough riches to live for the rest of your life comfortably. Your mission begins the moment you leave this base."

The joyful grins on their face made it all possible to believe that they will be successful where others were not. They grab their guns and bags before boarding the aircraft. It will hard to say if they would bring me my enemies dead, or would they return in body bags. I get a call from Woodhouse about the party tonight. I nearly forgot about it. I hurry back to the entrance to meet with him and read over the arrangements for tonight. Damn it, I hate when this kind of incidents come up. I see Woodhouse has my suit ready for tonight. Once we take the elevator up to the garage, we get inside one of my many limousines and make our way. I call my lead associate at the factory and remind him to only update on any further issues that are major. With that out of the way, I can look forward to entertaining my guests of two hundred tonight with food, drink, and pleasurable company. I review over the listings and orders for food.

I say to Woodhouse, "Do we have more than enough appetizers? Last time, we had to serve up fries and chips to cover some of the night. And what about tables and what about the liquid these two hundred will drink?"

Woodhouse laughs, "Sir, we have more than enough chips, fries, oysters, salads, and even breadsticks to feed over a two hundred people. We even order wine and some water down champagne for those who can't drink heavy. We just hope for tonight to be a good night and for there to be no mishaps on the premises."

With nothing else to read over, I take this time to enjoy the ride over to the palace. Tonight will be extraordinary. After an exhausting thirty minute drive, Woodhouse and I pull into the drive way and see the final touches being added on. I get out of the car to be greeted by the palace owner. He is eager to shake hands with me greatly considering I just gave a sizeable donation to his building for repairs and additional features.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, sir. I made sure your room is ready for you. The party will begin tonight around 8pm. We got about two hours before the guest start coming. My chefs and staff have started to cook."

I thank him for such gracious hospitality. I leave Woodhouse and him to catering to everything else while I freshen up and rest a little. All around my head, everyone is as busy as they can be. I take the elevator up to the top floor and stroll down the hall to room two nineteen. I enter and calmly ready myself for tonight. Tonight will be a great day for more financial gain, meeting new people, learning new ways to grow my flower plantation, and hearing from folks about the news. Oh yes, this will be the night of wonder. This is not some regular house party where everyone gets so intoxicated that memory will no longer help. No, this party will bring together people of refine manner, superior intelligence, wonderful craft, and even grandiose ideas. I always did love these parties. I let all my worries go away about the attack on my base. Once I got dressed and ready to go, I head back down to join the others. Everything looks great on sight. Meals are already done and each table had its owner's reservation on it. A few handfuls of people arrive early. They gladly greet me, Woodhouse, and the owner so joyfully. I see the familiar faces of my factory's contributions. Once my ordinary folk arrive, the more sinister and "business" folk arrive in groups. Some represent government. Others come to claim more additional purchases. Those uncanny types didn't take away my focus nor did I let it bother me. My mind is too secure on four particular people that I want to see so badly tonight. Even if they are not here to socialize with some of the others, they will be the fire in the dark. I look for my dear friend Woodhouse and beg him for a moment of his time.

"Do please alert me or find me among the sea of these fishes when my main predators join the fray."

Woodhouse nods and keeps his eyes on the faces or names of the people who received my invitation. With security patrols on the move, this night would be ending great. I look from the top of the stairs in the center hall to see the groups pairing off. Some went for the artwork on display to criticize it. A few of the more serious groups are already discussing in corners about the business of war and trade negotiations. And I finally come to my kind of group. The people who did their best to stand out from others and talk about flowers being grown stand at the bottom of the stairs. From growing a common house plant to nurturing a rare yet deadly flower, the endless talks of it make this party so much more worth having than inviting the boring sort to it. I head on down and listen in on the latest garden they grew, but I had to remember. Business is the first priority before pleasure could consume me.


	2. Chapter 2

_The Eliminators_

 **Day 62**

 _Shaun_

If I had a choice of killing someone without getting messy and doing it quietly, this will be the place. Unfortunately, my contact didn't say anything about who my target is or where to find them. All I am left with is the message of arriving at a party. Time to get myself checked in. I need intel on who is at this party. I go to the front door. Yessh, this security here is definitely making sure you will not get far on running. The roof is covered with snipers and plenty of ground agents ready to stop anyone. I place my thumb on the scanner in front of the door clerks.

"Ah, Mr. Shaun. It is such an honor that you made it here. I am Mr. Woodhouse. This letter is for you being our honored guest. Enjoy yourself tonight."

I walk inside to hear classical music playing by the band. I see people well dressed. I didn't know where to start at. I head to the main hall and see heads everywhere. I swear I must have stumbled into a place full of chatter boxes. If I didn't over hear about a person's day or what they had for food tonight, I started to believe I am in a family get together. My eyes catch the view of a few men sitting at the table with some suits on. I recognize one of them as a government official. The men are talking to some serious customers.

A calm voice says, "That is the South Africa Warlord Blood. He chose to give up his original birth name and took on the name Blood due to the killing of his brothers. He regularly gets his guns from that corrupt government official, but this time may be his last cut of US military hardware. He has been slowly becoming the top dog in his territory and may pose a threat to neighboring countries if not his own. You would do well not to associate with him if you know what is good for you."

I turn and greet myself. The person replies, "My name is of no importance. Perhaps, we will speak another time. For now, enjoy the party tonight. It was nice speaking to you sir."

The man leaves my side. So, I go back to waiting. This party may have been good, but it is a waste of my time. I hear commotion and look over to see some stubborn, mean drunk ready to go off. The people back away to hear his foul behavior and accusations of his cheating wife. The guards come by and escort him off. He never stops for even a second. My phone vibrates. I open it to a text message from my mysterious contact. It reads: "Go upstairs. Password Talos to get by the guards." I walk around the palace until I see the stairs guarded by two service agents armed with guns. I step to them but they block my way until I tell them the password. With a nod, they allow me up to proceed. My phone vibrates as I head up. The next message reads: "Access computer for next location." I didn't know if this is some stupid corporate joke or someone who will pay me a lot of cash for stolen intel they possibly know. I begin to open doors on the second floor until I found the computer. Right when I access it, the screen is locked. Before I can begin anything else, I receive another text message. The message reads: "Orion". I start to get a little too annoyed with the messages. Is all of this a trick? Did someone want to frame me? Maybe I am here to get caught. I type in the password. I look on the computer. So much of the stuff on here is classified and couldn't be access. I only saw the desktop background and ironically, the address is right in front of me. I look around the room for small cameras or hidden microphones. I found nothing. This has to be the biggest scheme of all things. My phone vibrates again. The message reads: "Return to your place of residence and wait for two days before coming." With nothing else left to gather or see on the computer, I head out the room. On my way back down, I see the party is still in full swing. So, with two days of free time, I use this moment to indulge in the words and chatter that the people speak of. I have a sit at the bar. A man comes over and orders a fine apple wine soother. I also tell the waiter to add a second.

The man turns to me, "Such a nice and interesting party this is no?"

I reply, "This is a good dinner party that the owner has made for the people. But, I am not the party person unless I have good cause to celebrate."

"Ha ha ha! Then sir, you have not the chance to truly live. In the old days, people would have these parties or gatherings for esteem folk. Those who knew how to not only have a great time, but to cherish the lands, the art, and the power they have earned. For a man like you to be here among such people in this room is an honor."

I scoff at his words and reply, "A dishonor is what I see when I come to places like these. The people in here have tons of money to change the world yet they do nothing. This is nothing more than a waste. Every day and every month, the rich are always finding ways to keep hard working people poor by using ideas they do not need. The fine paintings you see around the rooms are reflections of those who work hard to create them; however, these bastards don't show real appreciation to the one that held the brush. Instead, they auction it off like a piece of prize. If these people want to be famous for anything, why not do more for the people? They won't be taking the money with them once they are dead."

"Allow me to shake your hand sir. You are truly a person who values more over the individual than the piece. Please continue to enjoy the party. I got a woman to 'stuff' tonight."

The man shakes my hand and heads back to crowds. He was quite unusual for a person of the party. I listen to the soft music. It reminds me so much of what my childhood was like. My parents both working and spending time together. Every so often I would get a little extra cash from them to spend on myself. I wish I could have seen them before I turned my life to violence. I look at my watch and see that the evening would be long hours of entertainment for me. And with no work till after two days, I may as well enjoy the city and the sites. The evening is still young. It is time for me to get a plate to go and cruise around the town. I could only wait and see how this elimination task would go. I head for the door and find the owner of the palace having a good time talking. I leave out with meal for tonight and looking at the letter I was given early by Mr. Woodhouse. I turn it over to see my Spec Ops name on it in gold letters. Before I have any more time to look at it, some guy bumps into me. He is lucky this day since I want to go home. My rental car is brought to me out front. I tip the man a $20 bill and drive down the road. I look back at the letter. This is starting to get more and more troublesome by the minute. I come to a red light and use the little time to read the message:

"Vector, a certain person at the palace gathering tonight recognized you. This person has sent two cars to follow you all the way to your place and murder you. By the time the light changes, you will need to take a right, two lefts and two mile drive down the road to face these attackers. They will kill you."

The light changes green. I drive calmly and spot the two dark cars following me. I follow the instructions carefully. I find myself driving on a dark, abandoned road. It is a good thing I came prepared for this fight. After driving two miles out, I come to a ledge just a few yards in front of me. I open my glove compartment and pull out my silencer. I look back at the letter to see one more message. It reads:

"If you survive this, you will be reward with new gear."

With a smirk on my face, I feel good about what to do. One person approaches my car with a knife in his hand and a gun near his side. The others ready their weapons too. I wait for him to get near the door. Before he can react, plink. One shot to the body. He turns to his allies and starts bleeding. The others pull out their silencer weapons. I grab the guy and use him as a body shield. Tonight is looking too good for me. It is a shame they won't live to see it. With the guns silently throwing bullets into the man, I put down two more and get ready for the rest. The four doors open up from the second car and here comes the attackers. I rush off into the woods with them closely following behind me. They blast at the trees and bushes in hopes of wounding me. The area is dense with fog. It is perfect for me to make use of this. I calmly listen to for their voices and movement. Tonight is going to be fun for me after all.

 **Day 62**

 _Wallace_

Well, this seems like a waste of my bloody time. This party didn't suit a person like me. Since I didn't have to pay to get in, I may as well have a pint or two. I still find it difficult to believe I am invited to this party. That guy who bumped into me needs to watch where he walks at. He should be grateful that he had two cars follow him tonight and not blowing up in his own car the next day. At least Mr. Woodhouse knows how to treat people. I get inside the place and go for the bar. I ask for rum on the rocks with a small shot of vodka and strawberry smoothie. The bartender thought I am making a new drink. This little inexperienced mixer didn't know anything about mixing some drinks. He can learn a thing or two from me. Though I am surrounded by rich and corrupt folk, my night here will end accordingly for me. I get a text message and open my phone to see what I have.

"Go upstairs and access the computer. To get pass the guards, speak the code name: Orion."

I start looking for the stairs. The smalls groups of these wine sippers didn't make it any easier to move much. The women are looking good, but none will be able to keep my desire stable. I get to the guards at the stairs and speak the code name. They let me go up and I receive another text. It reads: "Password: Atlas for the computer." I start opening the doors on the second floor to find the computer to use. Lucky me, I found the right room. Once inside, I make sure there are not any traps or surprises for me. I log on the computer and type in the password. Once the desktop shows, it is completely locked up on everything but the log off button. There is an address for the background display. My phone vibrates again with another text. It left me too confused when I read the message.

"The address is on the desktop of the screen. Return to your place of residence and wait two days to be called."

This kind of stuff makes me feel way off edge. I look around the room for cameras or hidden microphones. If the people who have my wife and child think this is fun, then I will gladly show them fun when I cram a bomb up their ass. I write down the address and head out back downstairs. When I get to the top of the stairs, I hear yelling coming from within the main attraction area. I calmly head over and see a man with a knife held at a woman. He must be the ex of her life or the stalker who finally gave in to his urges.

"So, bitch? Is this not hard enough for you? The same kind of hard stuff your new boy toy gives you?"

He roars at her furiously as she pleads with him to let her go. A guy tries to restrain him, but the man strikes at him with his knife. The man threatens to kill her if anyone tries to help. With quick hands and legs, I move for the knife and strike his hand to drop it. He shoves the woman down and tries to grapple with me. I easily trip him and side step away from him. He gets up quick. The booze covered smell of this fool thinks he will easily win, but it is nothing I can't handle. I see his punch coming and easily trip him. The security guards come and drag him out of the place. The lady is shaken up from her experience, but a lot of drinks and bed jumping sessions can fix that. With the commotion dying down, it is time for me to go back and enjoy my next two days off from work. I head to my car and take a moment to smoke. Lord knows I gave this up. I use to be puffing on a cigar to always calm my nerves. Only certain brand of cigars give me a hint of smell I enjoy. The watch on my wrists shows only 20:00pm. It is still early to call it a night. I get inside my car and drive towards the bright lights of the city. I look around at the sites to see a few good things. It is a nice town. The news they get on the radio seem to be just like anything else I hear about. From drug busting to celebrities achieving status, the news told me of nothing grand that I deem worth listening to. I park my car to an empty spot near the park. I get out and lean on my car to remind myself of the night I saved my wife. It had only been a few weeks since I rejoined the world of killers again. Nothing else made my mind and nerves more at ease than a cigar or holding my wife and child. The warm embrace of my body and hers wrapped around each other made any day feels like eternity. Her smile made all my rage of destruction die off in me like hope bringing down despair. I look to the stars and see them shining bright. This moment makes me feel alive. To know that she and our child are alive gives me hope to do continue the fight to free them from this life. My phone rings. I pick up the call.

"The location of your wife and child has been kept secret from you for certain reasons. You have my complete 100% assurance that once this mission is over, you will be reunited with them once again. In two days, your task will begin and there will be three others you must compete against. Till then, enjoy your moon and star watching night, Rampage."

The call goes silent. Ugh, the idea of my wife and child being held somewhere without me being able to see them strengthens my resolve to finish this. All I have to do is wait two lonely days. Well, not me. Rampage is nothing like Wallace. The hit-man Rampage doesn't let his talent go to waste nor will I let it go without practice. I hop back in my car and try to find myself a bar. The call did seem suspicious, but I will deal with whoever the informer is later. I look up places within the country on my GPS. I go to the south part of the city and look for a decent bar. The south part of this town has the usual as I drive around. The hookers are on the corner turning tricks for cash. The wanna-be pimps trying to get their money stand about near their cars. I get to a red light and look at the bar to my right. It is perfect to finish up my night. I turn into the parking lot right across from it. Once parked, I head inside to find more than just a mess. In the center of this loud place, a pit hole for fighters. At the bar, there is plenty of booze to drink. The only problem is hardly any customers want a drink. I look up and see the board chalked up with names and the amount of cash for a fight. The woman at the door greets me and guides me to the bar. I can hear more commotion coming from the pit hole as people shout for a K.O. I ask for the usual beer and inquire about the pit hole fights from the bartender.

As she fixes my drink, she says, "The pit hole is for fighters as you see. A lot of the people come and the gathering crowds are here to bet on them. The largest area people bet on are the knockouts. They go anywhere from $5000.00 to at least almost $9,000.00 depending on how good the fighter is and how much the fighter himself is willing to throw on the tab. Our current champion is Road Hog. He always places about a good $5,000.00 on himself and guarantees anyone who bets on him 25% of the winnings. He already earned about half of a million dollars last few nights, so he won't take anyone else on unless they are paying a lot."

I smile with much enthusiasm and ask her to lean towards me. I whisper to her how much I will bet on the next fighter and she laughs. She becomes more shocked when I pull out some cash and tip her one thousand dollars to put the amount on the board. Without further ado, she erases the high dollar amount and changes it. A few people shout and make remarks about the board to see $50,000.00 written up there. I left out the bar and return to my car. I open up the trunk and reach for my small bug out bag of the exact amount of cash. I come back in smiling. Now the crowd is anxious to see who paid that amount. I approach the woman again and tell her a few more details while I get ready. I place my shirt and tie to the side of the bar and swallow my last drink. The woman takes to the microphone and gives the announcements.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and pit fighters of the Rough-House. Our next fighter is coughing up $50,000.00 for a chance to fight against our reigning champ Road Hog. In addition, he has agreed to pay up another one million dollars if he loses. He is offering five thousand a piece for extra pay to any fighter if he can fight all contenders tonight. So, get those check books and wallets ready. Someone is paying up a lot tonight. I hope you Road-House fighters are ready to walk away with five thousand in your pocket if you lose and more when you win!"

The crowd roars with joy and the fighters scream for this nobody to come on. I pop my neck muscles and make my way into the hole. It is nothing but barbwire for ropes and enough room for you to catch a small breather. I enter calm and relaxed with everyone laughing and wondering. The Road Hog comes to the ring receiving the large amount of respect and applause from the people. He comes to the center ring with a message.

He says, "Lo and behold! For I, the Road Hog, am presented with a challenger. He thinks he can take me out in three round. He will make me richer than before. Someone must be really good, crazy, or stupid. I give him this chance to walk away."

He goes to his corner laughing, but the joke is on him when he gets the full pain from Rampage. Ah, it feels so good to a degree to be back where I started before. A person of no great importance is who I was. When I got the name Rampage, everything changed. A room full of money spending assholes and slutty whores reminds me why I left and met my wife. Road Hog gets the crowd pumped for the pain to come. He sees that I have not left the pit. With a few pops in his neck and hands, he stands ready to face. The bell rings. It is time to bring the rampage.

 **Day 62**

 _John_

Oh hell no! I get an invite to a party with a bunch of "popular and wise" people who I never like to associate with. All these motherfuckers wanna do is stand around and talk about art, life, politics, marriage, and how fucked up the kids are in today's society that they themselves contribute to. I hope this person I am hunting for is worth it. I enter the place and try to fit in. All I can see is more women to fuck and more annoying people I probably will kill due to a person or group that makes them feel uneasy. I look all around and see the bar. I order for a bottle with a shot glass. This will be a long night for me. I look back at the entrance to see a drunken man trying to get back in. Eh, he must have found out a woman robbed him of his money. I go take a few shots of my drink to get me relax, but I am too irritated. I ask the bartender to keep my bottle on the side for me to take home. I look and wander around the palace to try and enjoy myself. It looks like another boring night. My eyes scan the room and I couldn't believe who I see. Oh shit! It is him! I gotta go over and say hi to this fool.

"Hey, Blood! What are you doing here man?!" I shout.

The guards of Blood block my way, but Blood moves them to the side. He welcomes me over to his private table and we catch up on our current operations and business.

Blood says, "I see you are able to now truly have fun by visiting other places other than staying in state of your U.S.A landscape. It is about time you enjoy what other cultures have to offer."

"First off, Blood, you got it confused there. Mr. Death here doesn't care what other places or cultures offer unless it is getting some wet or money from clients. Plus, the only thing some places outside of the U.S. have offered me is more hassle and money lost. But, besides all that, it is good to see the outside for a change. So, tell me. How is everything in your small world of blood, violence, and ecstasy going?"

"Ha ha, it has been a prosperous year for me since you did help me out against some unpleasant company two years ago. Our lands are more fruitful. We have crops for the picking. Unfortunately, I am here only for this week to enjoy myself before I attend to my long war I have ahead of me to retake some areas of my interest."

The night is great. We enjoy ourselves to the fullest. From the business deals gone wrong to promising futures, we both know that nothing will stop our momentum. Blood extends an invite to me and allows me to join up at his own establishment. I couldn't dare say no to one of his parties. We both left as one of his hired guns drives my car. I climb into his limo and see nothing but the finest of women surrounding us. To top it off, he pulls out his own flavor ganja. Out of all the stuff in the world, his personally made ganja out does them all. It is rolled into sugar with the same supply he always got. The women have their fill of it. The limo keeps that same sweet smell floating around our heads. Blood himself smokes only a little of it to feel faded. I save what is left for the cruise we take towards his place. When we arrive, the place he rented is already jumping. Now this is my kind of get together. The place has some good entertainment all around. A few women did some stripping for the hire gunmen while others satisfy their lust. As for me, I went straight for the bar. I may have been faded, but I still need a small glass of water to bring me back to my senses. I didn't want to be off when my business begins in two days. I get my glass and turn to see Blood looking like a lunatic. He is dancing and slapping any ass that comes around him. This is the world of crazy I live in and can always be relaxed. And my night got better when she comes closer to me. This woman is looking fine. She has the right size and she didn't mind me asking her for a little one on one.

"So, what is your name and why are we not alone somewhere?"

She smiles and replies, "My name is Taveka. We can be alone if you wish it. I was told to keep you happy by Blood."

I take her by the arm. We head for the door. I look back to see Blood and a few of his boys on top of a few women. Most had them doggy style, but Blood didn't mind seeing the face of his woman. Taveka accompanies me outside by the cars. I let her know she can relax. She is ready to straddle me under the stars. I stop her and look at her eyes deeply.

I say, "There is no need for any of that. I know how Blood likes to make his women act, behave, and do for his trigger happy nut jobs. With me, baby you can relax and tell me of all your personal desire, wants, and dreams. For now, let's just talk and I will hear what you got to say."

Taveka look lost for words. She is surprise to know that some men prefer a conversation before getting into something tight and wet. She leans on the car and a few tears roll down her face. I comfort her and she buries her face into my chest. I knew what she has to endure just to stay alive when being a woman of Blood and his crew. I ask one of the body guards to let Blood know I am leaving for home tonight and taking Taveka with me.

"My boss says you are welcome to stay or go. Taveka is your woman for as long as you need her, be she dead or alive."

I nod and get my keys back. After we got in the car, the woman kisses me. I let her know that after tonight she will be free. For a moment, she thought I meant dead. I assure her that she won't die in this place. I open my last bottle from early I had. I offer her a sip. She takes a huge swallow of it. For the first time in her life, she is feeling free. I play a little music and she relaxes. She thanks me for such a great time and not asking for any sex. It must have been years since she was allowed to be this free. Then, she tells me about her home land. The night ends perfectly for me. No guns being pointed at me. No crazy shoot outs. No cleanup crew. No dead bodies. It is just me and Taveka. And we would go home to my place to hear about her home land and dreams. We arrive to the city portion of the town. She likes and compliments on the lights each building has. I am glad she can enjoy herself without someone making her enjoy herself against her will. We get to my place. I treat her with nothing but respect every step of the way; however, due to her conditioning under Blood, she is still feeling uneasy to relax. I guide her to the couch and turn on the T.V.

I say, "You can relax yourself around me Taveka. There is nothing for you to worry about any more. And by tomorrow morning, you will have a blessing from me to you. This I swear."

She still feels almost uneasy, but I plan on giving her something she will never forget. Her night is about to be the best night ever.

 **Day 63**

 _Nicolai_

My red light will be shortly turning. The roaring noise of the aircraft sounds like a melody. I may have gotten to my destination a day later, but I will make up for it with speed, stealth, and accuracy. The pilot informs me of the one minute drop. I strap on my parachute and get ready for the green light. The back door opens up. My countrymen of Russia cheer me on. The air is cooled to a relaxing temperature. With the light flashing green and a final salute from Russia's finest, I leap out of the cargo hold and free fall to the surface. The rushing winds push me to the side, but I spear myself forward. My head gear displays I am at three hundred feet. I pull my chute and slow guide myself into a thick forest. I make land fall safely. Once I touch down, a huge growl comes from behind my back. It just has to be a bear ready to kill me. I rid myself of the chute and run. The bear keeps at me so I turn to blast at its leg. The creature stumbles forward and limps after me still. I have to get to my rendezvous point. The forest didn't offer much resistance. It had plenty of visitors coming through here making paths along the way. I pull of my compass and continue to head south. The run is long and hearing the creatures of the forest makes me stay alert. I manage to find a road. It is perfect to send out a signal. I fire my flare gun in the air and wait. I look back at my phone and see the instructions of the coordinates left on there. Surprisingly, my contact's wheelman shows up on time. Whoever this person is, the driver makes sure I will not be late nor would tardiness be allowed on their part. Once inside, I collect the intel. The driver makes it difficult to read it with his insane driving. My task is too simple though.

"Find the computer on the second flood. Access the info for an address. Wait for further instructions."

The car comes to a stop after a one hour drive. I only brought with me my main weapon of choice. The driver gives me a bag full of gear inside to help me achieve my objective. I find a spear gun with rope attach together. The front pockets of the bag have tranquilizing darts that can be fired by my silencer rifle. A few flash bangs can come in hand for this if I have to use them. With everything ready and adjustments fixed, I approach the complex from the north. There is hardly anyone around. Are they all inside? Maybe they are on break? This setup is too easy. I look for a strong tree near the complex. The area is quiet and perfect for infiltration. I climb the largest tree and see that I have security guards patrolling around the roof of the palace. I am glad that they are here. It is no fun unless you get to use the tools of war against someone. I aim the spear gun at a nearby window. The rope is tied to the spear. I take my shot and hit a strong portion of the wall. I pull on the rope and tie it the tree. I grasp the rope and begin to move under the cover of darkness. This has to be a joke for me. Not once did any of the security guards over the edge to see me. I safely get to the ledge of the roof. I wait for the security team to walk in the other direction. I locate the roof top door. Something didn't feel right about none of this task. I advance towards the door and quickly pick the lock open. I go inside and close it behind me. No sound, no noise. Shame, I didn't get a chance to tranquilize the guards. Maybe I can get the rest inside the building. I move down the stairs and come to the next door. I gently push it open. I find myself on the fourth floor. I lock and load my tranquilizer darts. I have to make every shot count. I didn't have time to be seen or caught. I hear my first target walking in my direction. I turn and face the hallway to see the person approach from the corner. The agent gets a shot in the neck and falls to the floor. I drag him inside a room and move on. I get the corner. There are two guys standing by the steps. I have to keep it quiet. I can't let them give away this position. I throw a towel by their legs. They both turn. I wait for them. They call out to their friend who was still asleep. They come around the corner and I put them to down with ease. The time is burning too fast. I gotta pick it up. I hurry down the stairs and tranquilize three more security guards. I look back at the intel to refresh my memory. I get to the second floor and see five blocking the hallway. This time, I have to knock these guys out the old fashion way. I pull a small flash grenade from my side. I pull the pin and count the seconds. I toss it perfectly at them. It went off and left them blind and confused. I use my speed and momentum to rush them. I chop two of them to the back of their head. The last two force me to use the tranquilizer darts by hand. The fifth guy proves more trouble than expect. Not only did he shake off the flash blast, he counters many of my moves easily. I trip him by his legs and choke him to sleep. With the five men down, I head down the hall way and look in the rooms until I find the computer. Hopefully, this won't be a ruse set up to capture me. All the doors are unlocked. This has to be a setup for me or the world's most horrible security team. I find the computer. It looks as if someone has been in here before. I move the mouse pad and see an address on the desktop. Is this a joke to insult me? Does the informer know I will probably kill him or her when I find out where they are hiding? This is what I get for taking on the bullshit assignments.

With the intel I have, it is time to leave. I take off my dart clip and replace it with bullets. I had enough of this awkward mission. It is time to make an exit. I come out the door and see the guys getting pulled up by a few others. I run right through them and hike over the edge. I push off the edge and jump to each wooden rails heading down. The security goes on full alert. Too bad they won't be able to see how fast I move. I run for the front door. Damn! A security guard tries to take me down. I easily trip him and put a dart in his neck. I run for the next room and shoot a few security guards in the leg and arm to slow them down. I throw down another flash bang and stun the approaching group. I run at the window. I shoot it up and leap out the window. I hear more patrolling guards come by. It is a good thing the bag has smoke bombs in it. I throw smoke bombs everywhere and start running. It was just like training all over again. The only difference this time is the enemy is ready to kill me. I toss my last few smoke bombs out and escape from their sight. The pain in my legs reminds me of the days my training took a toll on me. Even now, I could fall onto the soil from exhaustion, but I always remember that gun sound clicking near my head. The special group that received the same rigorous training as me had the same method. When the acting commissar told you run, you had to keep up with the group. Any person that fell behind the group or didn't keep up got a bullet to the body depending on how well you performed. The fact that I alone stayed twenty yards ahead of the group made me the specialist for the later on features. I manage to keep my pace all the way till I get to the contact's extraction point. The car pulls up. I get inside and he drives away fast. I lean over and breathe heavily from the pain my legs got. I may have been tired from the task, but I am glad I have one full day to rest. I still feel uneasy with the way the mission went. No time to think about it until the day the real mission starts.

The wheelman drops me off at some dead end motel room near the edge of town. He gives me my room key and informs me of his arrival time for tomorrow. I head to my room. I was still sore from my run, but this night is over for me. I step inside and check the room out for anything out of place. It may have been a cheap room for some, but who can afford to sleep in a place like this with one night stay at four hundred dollars. I look behind the doors and check the windows. I turn over the bed and check in any place where I would stash a microphone. The place feels secure enough. Now it is time for me see about this address. I pull out my note pad and try to look up the address. The pad keeps reading the place as an error. I use the map and search for it. The place I am heading to tomorrow must to be a joke. This place is in the middle of nowhere. I double the location in the internet. This place is showing one-hundred percent accurate. The last few people that lived there moved fifty years ago and left the place to rot. I should do more checking, but it can wait. It is time for me to rest. I was sore enough physically. There is no sense in straining my mind. The next day will give me all the answers I need for the up and coming mission. And hopefully, it won't lead me to a trap. With so many unanswered questions not making any sense, I hope that the next day will bring me answers to what is going on.

My alarm rings at 06:00am. I hop out of bed and do my morning exercise routine. I head outside and run for a few laps to get my heart rate up. I didn't have much time to eat so I just had a small bite before my wheelman arrive. I hit the shower and get cleaned up. Today is going to be an interesting day. I get my gear bag and head out the door. The wheelman is here on time at exactly 07:00am. I get in the car. The driver didn't do any fast pace driving this morning. He must have been given certain orders. I look through my gear bag to make sure my gun is ready and loaded. I adjust my rifle. I check my ammunition. I test my tech for any signs of issues.

The wheelman says, "The facility will provide you with a new weapon and gear. You won't be using that."

I scoff at him, "I have used this weapon since the day I was given it. What does this facility offer that I already have?"

"My contact has not told me much of how you will do things. I do not know what you will use provided by them, or who will be the assignment. All I am doing is dropping you off and you will proceed from there. All I know is your code name and the instructions I was given."

The driver continues to take me to the place outside of town. With little to no answers to the questions I have, I make sure I am ready for any sudden traps or surprises that will come up. I read up one last time on the info that is provided. There is so much intel. I didn't like how none of this adds up. An unknown caller contacts me from a cell phone that was delivered to me. A place that has been empty and abandoned for a long time is my meeting. One way or another, I will put the pieces of this puzzle together and figure out who is truly behind this. After a long silent travel, we arrive at the area. It looks so run down and messed up. I get out of the car and look around. I press the driver for more questions, but he replies so and so. I hear my phone's text message sound going off. I open the phone and read an interesting reply.

 **Day 63**

 _Unknown Assailant_

It is a great morning! Yes, today is the day I have been waiting on. Everything is slowly going according to the plan. My first specialist arrives on time. I ask for Woodhouse to send out a message to each of the others one hour after the other. The only problem is Mr. Death. He just has to make it difficult for me. My agents have no location on him. Lucky for him, I have plenty of ways to make sure he arrives on time. After that last attack on my base, I have to speed things up and make sure that these men will be ready. I give Woodhouse the last hint of instructions for them. I hope they didn't mind the unique way they have to enter the facility. I set down in the main control room sipping on tea and enjoying what is soon to be coming. The monitors are showing the empty rooms make it really interesting. A lot of people thought it is just for peeping in on visitors. They didn't think outside of the box. I may have the rooms set up for one person, but these rooms are meant for those who are ready to come out swinging in two to six minutes. One hour after another, they each arrive at the known location. I can feel the interesting conflict that is about to go down. They each enter the base and take a trip inside to their special gear room for preparation. I enjoy seeing how the anticipation on their face is. The first step is to see how they handle their new equipment. Once they are left inside each room, I click on the first voice box to speak to one of them. This is so invigorating.

I say, "Greetings Rampage. I hope getting here was not too early for you, but would you kindly open up the locker next to you. Inside, you will find a set of weapons and tools for you to use on this mission. You will have three others against you, so take this time to adjust the items to your liking. You have a specialized silver shotgun and hand gun made of steel inside. There is also a belt inside with various small bombs attach to it and grenade harness holding up to at least twelve or more explosives. You will find these items at the top of the lock. The main suit you see before you is a one of a kind bullet proof, knife and explosive resistant armor for you. It has plenty of throwing knives for you to use. Wear it well. The suit use to be juggernaut body armor for assaults, but we altered its feature to be more protective from some harmful experiences you've endured. The best thing about it is how light it will feel on you. Your objective is to reach the center and retrieve the gem there from the others. You have ten to fifteen minutes to suit up and get ready."

I click the voice box off and click on the second one. I say, "Hello Specter. I trust you are ready to suit up and won't mind changing guns and equipment out. In the box in front of you, there are some items within. A highly advanced sniper rifle capable of being refitted into a sub machine gun is inside. It can fire fifty caliber bullets and has a high intensified scope that allows you to see further than most average ones. Your combat suit inside will give you an edge over your foes you never had before. There will be three others in the area you are going to. I hope you are ready to take them on too. You mission is simple. Be the first person to obtain the gem at the center and you win. You have fifteen minutes to get ready."

Once he got the message, I click over to the third candidate and say, "I am glad you made it to today's occasion Vector. Your gear is inside the glass container as you noticed. Your code name by voice recognition will unlock it. Inside, you will find a suit that is capable of cloaking you from head to toe thus concealing you to the human eye for stealth operations. Your modified assault rifle and hand gun also has the same capability to become cloaked as well. Should you lose your gun, your suit starts to send out a distress beacon on your wrist. The closer you are to your gun, the fast the beacon vibrates and flashes. You will be entering into a small area where three other men are. Your task is simple. Get to the gem and claim it before the others do. You have ten minutes to get ready. Use the tools well and you may have a chance for the big prize."

Last and fortunately, "Welcome to the big time Mr. Death. Although you made it last to the facility, your ability to be ready shows promises. In the duffel bags in front of you, we have new items for you to try. The large ones have supreme bullet proof armor and a well-balanced machine gun with more than enough fire power to rip apart a mob of people. I won't tell you too much of the details, but you will know this after you suit up. There are three others here and they are highly skilled. You must get to the gem first before they do to win. You will wait for further instructions."

With the final messages given to them, I task Woodhouse with the last hint of instructions they will receive by their phone. I turn my sights over to the window of the smallest underground city that will house all of the coming death and destruction. The city spans about five miles in all directions. Only a few tall buildings were standing after the last session from so long ago. With little to nothing left, I have to put all my faith and trust into this last project. Woodhouse joins me at the observing window and pulls up the various first person view cameras they each have mounted on their helmets. Each of them is ready to go bursting out with their gun blazing and firing metal at anyone that moves. I give the nod for them to proceed with the mission. The door way opens for each of them at various locations. I can't wait to see how well they handle the suits and weapons. I click over to view of Vector. He comes across a small patrolling unit of four. He uses the cloaking suit for the first time and start picking off the enemy one at a time. He performs a very good performance. And he even shoots them all in the body again to make sure they are down. He leaves the cloaking tech on and continues to make short work of anyone he comes in contact with. I click over to see how Specter is adjusting. All I can see is the camera switching to many various places. I ask for one of the technicians to find him on another camera. I go to the monitor and see the amazing Specter using his acrobatics to get down from where he is at. The opening he came from put him on top of a ten story building.

"He used the stair rails on the side of the building to get down and leaps around from dead ends and walls. He is really good."

I agree with my associate on how well Specter is. I go back to my main screen and see a scope view of three men standing around. Specter picks them off with ease and continues moving. I switch to the hit-man Rampage and see his handy work. He is quietly killing his foes with the knife gun and knifes on him. Not once has he set off a bomb or threw a grenade. He is quiet as a mouse. With so much riding on the line for him, he has to be better than the others. I click over to Mr. Death and see that he left his area a huge mess. He may be the closest to the gem, but he did more than just leave a few bodies in the area he came charging through. I see him putting bullets in the head of every wounded and injured person on the ground. I ask for another camera view on Mr. Death. He comes to two vehicles with a machine gun mounted on the back. Mr. Death stands against twenty men ready to fire. One of the gunner men shouts for him to surrender. Mr. Death laughs at them and they fire a barrage of bullets. Each shot bounces off his armor and the machine guns barely cause him to stagger. I happily smile and grin at how effective the suit makes Mr. Death near invincible. After they stop firing, Mr. Death aims his own machine gun at them and puts them all down. He does live up to his skills as the bounty hunter.

So far, each of them has made use of their skills and the suits ability. I am glad they can be used against small groups effectively. I just hope they will prove more challenging to each other when they come face to face at the gem's location. With at least one to two more miles left for them to go, I tell Woodhouse to be ready to surprise them. I turn my focus to the next microphone and send this message to a particular bunch that is waiting.

"Today is your lucky day to get paid. Your assignment is real simple. There are four men who want to get a gem I left for them in the center of the underground city you will be going to. If you kill them, I will pay each of you fifty grand a piece. You will have about a few minutes to get yourselves ready and wait near the door at the end of the hall. You will get the chance to have not only money but payback for your defeat at the Russian Specter. He is among the four men here and your chance to get even has come."

I return back to see all four specialists closing in on the gem. The best part of the battle is coming. The fight of one mercenary versus one assassin and one bounty hunter versus one hit-man is about to begin. The excitement is in the air and I have front row view to see it. Even if they kill each other, only one of them will lead my new team to hunt down the other dogs before them. This time will be different. There will be more room for any mistakes. I ask my staff to be sure they can pull of the best angles and record the as much details on each of the four as they can.

Woodhouse asks, "Sir, are you sure this will be the team that we need? I would surely hate it if they repeat what the last team did."

I invite Woodhouse to sit beside me. I say, "We just paid a ton of money to four highly trained killers. We have a bounty hunter from the U.S. We called in a mercenary from France with no home to call his own. We recruited a famous hit-man from Ireland. Lastly, we convince an assassin to fly in from Russia to compete. These four may kill each other, but if they can't stop the remaining bunch in the hanger, then they have no use for me. Let them fight each other till the end. I know who I want in charge. Please Woodhouse, enjoy the show and have some of this tea with me."

Woodhouse leans back in the chair beside me. Now we can speculate on who will survive.

 **Day 65**

 _Mr. Death_

With the dead men around me, I am only less than a mile away from reaching the gem. This is going too easy for me. I hope the guy who called me here was ready to pay up. I have no equal in this dark, underground city. These weaklings didn't stand a chance against me in my new equipment. I do appreciate the bullet proof armor and new weapons too. This machine is light and is holding four hundred rounds of silver tipped bullet; however, I am still pissed over the fact that I was told about three others like me. Ha, the others better have on bullet proof body armor. They probably got nothing considering what I did to these fools. Good thing these fools help relieve some of the stress. Not to mention, this body armored suit and guns they gave me has me walking tall. I can't believe how strong it is to the bullets they shot at me. It is time for me to move further into the area and claim the prize. I get grabbed by a small man who tries to throw me down. He is too weak. I bust him upside his head and keep walking. WHAM! I can't believe this fool tries to hit me with a fucking metal pipe. I turn to him and block the next swing with my forearm. I crush my knee into his side. With no real effort, I easily body slam him to the ground. I shake off the hit. He is now trying to plead with me. Oh no, we just got started. I pull out my handgun and blast his leg. He tries to limp away. Ugh, so pathetic of him. I fire another shot at his head. He is down and time to move on. I am still amazed at the damage this city has taken. Each building on the inside either has dead people or a wall covered in blood. A few places have giant holes in the wall from explosions, but I guess some people are not good with bombs. I get pass a few more areas and turn the corner by a broken car. I am nearly there and can see my prize resting easy inside the glass object on the podium. I didn't have time to waste. There is no telling how far the others are from my current position too. I hurry over to it, but I didn't come to the center alone apparently. A small patrol comes driving through and stops right beside the area. I hide inside of the destroyed building and look out the window. Once again, I have been lied to about some information that wasn't shared. The gem is in the center. My problem is that I see it surrounded by seven patrol cars with about a group of men holding the area down. I guess it is time for John Death to add more onto his body count.

"Hey, assholes! Suck on this!" I shout.

They all turn and a few get hit with bullets from my machine gun. I take cover against the wall where I hidden. A bullet struck my helmet. I look up to see Snipers above my head. I duck down and rush to another building. An explosion goes off and smoke goes everywhere. I couldn't see what is happening, but something tells me I am not the only person here for the gem. I look around the corner and see more dead men. A few have small blades in the neck, head, and eyes. More and more of these guys keep coming out from within the surrounding buildings. I come from my corner and start putting more of them down. The snipers didn't take any shots at me. I guess this will be my lucky day again. I would have reloaded my big gun, but remember my side gun. I pull out my handgun and take a stroll down to the center. I hope the money they are paying me with isn't coming out of my earnings for making a mess here. I poke my head out and boom. I fall back inside the room. Jesus! A fucking sniper just has fire a bullet on my armored helmet. I roll out from the room and aim down the street. Nothing coming and I didn't get shot at again. I hear a vehicle approaching. I turn to see a truck coming to a stop. I better get in close before these fools realize I am here. I pull the driver out from the seat and snap his neck. Two of them come rushing at me. I head-butt one of the guys and stun him. The other guy tackles me to the ground and tries to shot me in the face. Even the damn lens on my armor withstands a gun shot at close range. I wrestle the man down and take his own gun from him and blow his head off. A few more men come rushing from around the corner to try and stop me. I look to see I will be facing off against. Five men only? That isn't enough to stop me. I drop the gun and ready my hands. I turn my focus back on them. There are two hand guns being held by two men and the others are ready to brawl. The last guy I head-butted got up but barely holds his own.

"Well boys, I hope you all realize you signed a death warrant when you take on me. Mr. John Death takes no fucking prisoners. You are all gonna die!"

The two with guns shoot me till they run out. I laugh and slap my chest and beg for any of them to fight me. The first guy tries to come at me. I easily throw him to the ground. The next guy tries to tackle me down, but he couldn't even trip me or cause me to stagger. I broke his neck before the other guy jumps on my back. I body slam him to the ground and put a bullet through his head. The others look scared shitless. I buck at them once and they all run the other way. Before they cut the corner, an explosion goes off and throws them everywhere. With no one else in front of me, it is time to grab my prize possession. I stroll through the aftermath explosion and see some suited up prick ready to touch the gem. I fire my handgun at the glass dish to shatter it. The mysterious guy looks my way. I hope he realizes that he can die just as fast as the others did. He must have been one of the other guys I was told about. His armor offers very little protection. He does have a nice amount of stuff on him, but he will still die. I better make my claim on the damn gem before he reaches for it.

"Hey there you stupid ass! That gem is already mine. So, I don't know who the hell you are, but take your fucking hand off it…"

I stop moving at the sound of a rifle clicking near my head. I can't believe I get set up for this shit. That explains why the other guy tilts his head to the side. He isn't looking at me. He is staring at whoever the hell this new guy is at my side ready to shoot me. There is a small amount of flashing static lights and the mystery guy is revealed. The camouflage guy warns me to not take another step. He must be another guy too. How did I not see him there at my side? The suit he is wearing can make all of my jobs and contracts go way easier. Now, he has done the dumbest thing ever. He pokes at my head as if that is to make me surrender? Does this little hooded, gas mask punk know who I am. And this other guy laughs at me. Oh, I hope he is still laughing when I put a bullet through his body. But, first I want the gem.

"Well, it seems that both of you have come far only to allow me walk away with a gem in my hand. I would thank you for stopping him whoever you are, but I got a prize to collect. I can't believe you two are the others."

Before he can claim the gem, it gets knocked away. The person with a gun to my head gets distracted by the gem. Oh yeah, he has messed up now.

 **Day 65**

 _Vector_

I surprise this loud mouth guy from the side. I let him know that the rifle is locked, aimed, and loaded with a bullet for his head.

"Don't take another step." I warn him.

Damn, I am only a few minutes late after coming here. And the gem is in plain sight. Now, there is someone else already there to get the gem.

The other guy laughs. I can see the gem just barely within his reach. I can't lose this mission.

"Well, it seems that both of you have come far only to allow me walk away with a gem in my hand. I would thank you for stopping him whoever you are, but I got a prize to collect. I can't believe you two are the others."

As he reaches for the gem, it gets knocked away from his reach. I look away for a moment. It costs me. The heavy armored man ducks from my rifle. I shoot at the wall. He trips me to the ground and kicks the head of my gun away before I fire again. I counter his heavy swings with quick hands and fast reflexes. He blocks most of my attacks until I surprise him with a kick to the leg. With one back kick to the stomach, I go back into my cloak mode and retrieve my rifle. I look for the gem on the ground. I didn't have much time. The other guy that was next to the gem fires his gun at me. The gun fire goes over my head went towards someone behind me. I look back to see someone pull away from the window. I see the big armored man run towards the gem. I take aim in the direction he runs and see the gem ahead of him. I fire once and knock the gem further away. The other gunman stops firing at the window and tackles the big man down. I move for the gem. This cloaking suit helps me a lot to get around people unnoticed. I got ahead of the other brutes. The gem is just barely inches away from me. I come close to feeling it in my hand.

A bullet shot knocks the gem even further away from me. I feel a foot kick me in the back of my head. My cloaking mode comes off as I stumble to the ground. I look up from the ground floor after falling down. I see someone trying to stab me. I quickly roll to the side. I get up fast and back away from the knife slashing attacker. He throws the knife. I lean to the side only to see the armored man's fist collide into my jaw. I fall down again daze from the hit. The guy hits hard. I watch him and the fast knife assailant go at it before getting up again and running for the gem. What's this? A grenade is thrown in front of me. Shit! I cut left and run only to feel the explosion's after effect throw me down. Damn it! I hear the loud, pitch noise and hear some footsteps running. I look up to see the less armored man throwing down smoke bombs to confuse us. I activate my cloak suit. What is this? I can actually hear the fighting and footsteps only? This is too good. I run towards the direction of the footsteps. I emerge from the smoke only to get tripped again. Damn it! I sweep my leg and make the next person fall. I roll to the side and find the gem in front of me. I shut off my clocking device and see the gem only an inch in front of me. It had fallen on the ground by a curb. I see the less armored man fighting against the knife wielder. They both use knifes and seem evenly matched. I get up and engage the first person in front of me. It just so happen to be the armored guy. He is owed a punch and more from me. I knock him down but before I could finish him, I get tackled from behind. This damn knife attacker becomes my focus. As we fight it out, I watch as one of my competitors get the gem and try to declare his victory. I duck the punches and roundhouse kick from the knife wielder. I run hard and crash into the other guy's side, forcing him to drop the gem.

The armored man tries to get it, but it is knocked away by kick from the knife assailant. With all four of us battling for it and not reaching for our side arms, this fighting is turning into a slug fest. I get ahead of the two and again, I am tripped. The less armored man uses my back as a stepping stone and jumps at the gem. I finally reach for my side arm and shoot the gem to send it out of reach. The bomber man turns and pulls out his side arm. He fires at my direction. I lean and duck as I move in closer to him. I manage to get in close to him with my gun barrel near his face. The armored man kicks me to the side. I shot into the air. With his arm locked around my neck, he slams me to the ground. I get a swift kick to the side and watch them run off for the gem. I get up while holding my side. The knife man rushes pass me with amazing speed. The other two grapple each other until they each get kicked by the speedster. He is good, but he didn't count on this. I push up from the ground and my body into him and cause him to stagger. He and I engage in hand-to-hand combat. I try to fire at him close up. He keeps pointing my hand everywhere else away from his body and face. We lock arms. Before we can react, we both get tackled down by the other two. We all engage back into another slug fest. Finally, I reach for my gun and aim. These guys are really good. It seems we all have the same thought to reach for our side arm. The gem is right next to us by the car. I move towards it with the others walking right at me with their guns ready to fire.

One of them says, "Well, looks like we all have a problem. Only one of us will get the gem if the others are dead."

The armored man replies, "Well, you bitches may be good, but Mr. Death will survive this since I can't be killed by bullets wearing this heavy armor."

The third guy laughs and retorts, "What does a grenade look like shoved up your ass?"

I look at the gem. I can't believe this shit. I call to each of them. They all are surprised that I want to just speak.

"I hope you guys will try to not kill each other when I show you all what we have chased after and wasted bullets on."

I pick up the gem and show them it wasn't a gem at all. It is just a well-made fake rock that looks real enough to pass as a gem. I toss it to Mr. Death. He becomes furious.

"What the fuck is this bullshit? They think they can trick me into a stupid game of life and death?" He bellows loudly.

The others lower their gun and look at it. They too become hostile and confused. None of this makes any sense. We did all of that fighting and come close to killing each other over a damn fake gem. Before we can do anything else, a loud noise from a nearby speaker is heard. We put our side arms up and reach for main gun. A voice starts laughing.

"Welcome and congratulations to you all. I see you Vector have figured out the gem is not real. For that, I commend you. This is the beginning of your initiation. You all performed marvelously. It would have been a shame for you to have killed each other. Now you can face off against the final mission of your initiation. In the doors just south of you is an army that one of you knows really well. They have invaded your home land before. This time they are here to kill you. Your mission is to eliminate them and stay alive. If you do, you will receive the payment we have promised you plus a bonus. The enemy is heavily armored, well equipped, and will be paid more than you if they kill any of you. So, you may want to work together. Good luck and stay alive. And, Vector is giving the orders for this problem you all have."

We all look to one another. One is confused. One is beyond upset. One is curious. I just can't believe I am back again at being in charge of a small unit. The only real questions that went through my mind are a few. Will they follow me? Who was that on the speaker? Why the hell are we being setup? The more this shit happens, the more I wanna kill everyone in this place including the people I have to work with. I can hear the vehicles coming. So can the others. We have nothing else to do, but kill them all.

 **Day 65**

 _Specter_

So, the informing contact set us up. I can't believe I am working with these men who I never met, tried to kill, would have killed me and didn't know anything about. We all have our own different skills and weapon. How can we work together when we barely know each other's names? The vehicles are approaching. Our only cover is a small five story building, a few cars and two buildings further away. I can care less if they survive. I want to know who set me up to die. The roaring sound of gun fire comes to us. We all dive for the cars and hide behind them. With the enemy pulling up and unloading from their cars, we face off against fifty men maybe more. I didn't care about the money. All I want to do is stop them from killing me.

I turn to them and ask, "What are your names?"

The big man answers, "I am John Death. I don't take orders from you fuckers. I will kill them all."

Mr. Death steps from behind the car and fires his machine gun at them. He takes down a lot, but he also gave our position away. I look to the other two and acquire their names.

"I am Rampage. That stupid fool can get himself killed, but I refuse to help you two shit stains."

Before anything else is said, Rampage moves from us and throws up a lot of cover. Mr. Death keeps the enemy on the defense before he runs out. I look to the last guy and he guides his eyes to the tall building. He nods his head and disappears with his stealth tech. I run and head up the building to take my position on the second floor. I use the smoke to get to the building and make it inside. I can hear the men set up on the ground. I hope they are good or this will be a short fight. After making it topside in five minutes and looking over the edge, I take aim and look to see what is going on. An exploding truck scatters a few of these men into cover, but it is not enough. I switch my scope to night vision and infrared. I see enough dead men in sight to kill. I take shots and put a few down until I see an unusual color on one of the people through my scope. The body is colored blue. I take a simple guess as to who that person is. I adjust my rifle into a submachine gun. I come back down to take the fight to those around me. I take aim and pick them off with ease. I see someone running through the enemy and stabbing them as he goes. He didn't bother to use his weapon. A sudden explosion goes off. Two of the cars are blown to pieces along with more of the enemy mercenaries getting killed by the blast. Despite being in the smoke screen, we all didn't need to communicate much. We work out nicely against this group. There is something familiar about the enemy. Shit! I lean back and dodge the gun fire of some more random thugs. My position is compromised. I run back into a building and encounter more men that foes. I take them on and kill all five of them with ease. The enemy forces come barging in with more numbers. They force me to retreat further west of the area. I look to see side and see my temporary ally uncloak himself. We both run in the same direction only to drop when we hear gun fire. Mr. Death provides cover fire with Rampage tossing his last few smoke bombs. We all get inside the next building and take a moment to recover. The numbers of the enemy seem endless almost, but they must be down to only a squad or so.

"That was real fucking stupid of you Mr. Death. You gave away our position. You should have used a better way of attack you stupid fuck."

"I didn't hear you leading us anywhere Vector. And I already told you that I don't take orders from assholes I don't know. I am just happy we only have a handful left. So, you are welcome dipshit."

"Ha, if I didn't blow them up, you fools would be up to your eye balls in bullet fire. Be thankful I didn't decide to blow any of you up."

I ask them to silence their chatter. The enemy is approaching and surrounding the building. I pull out my side arm and get ready. As the others think out their own plans, I know what to do against them. With a few breaths, I run out the door and gun down two of them. I press against one of the dead men and use his body as cover. His own allies shoot him to try and kill me. The others jump into the fray and take down the few left. I quickly recover and join them, gunning down more men. Most of our bullets shatter our enemies. A few get stabbed in the neck. With the enemy now dead, we all stand alert and ready for anything else coming at us. It is still hard to believe we all come out of this fight with only scratches. The speaker comes back on.

"You men are just who I need and desire to have. Congratulations on your victory over the mercenaries. You have earned an audience with me. There will be two jeeps passing by your area. The drivers will take you to meet with my associate."

We all lower our guard. It is just like that. We get to meet with the boss of this facility. I didn't know which is more interesting or irritating. Did we all get called here for a purpose of skill assessment or does the person want us working for him? One of these answers has to be it. Mr. Death is boasting about killing the most. Rampage brags about how easy he makes it for us. Although the moment for us is silent, we still didn't know anything about why we were called here. The jeeps pull up. We all get in them and drive pass the carnage towards the south. Even in the jeep, the bragging and body count talk never ends. I hope those two speak less when we see the boss.

I turn to Vector and say, "You did ok for someone under constant fire."

He replies, "You did fine for someone who loves to run a lot."

"Only when I have bullets coming at me will I stay focused," I answer. I add, "So, who do you believe our mystery host is? He brought us all out here and gave us stuff. Not to mention, he paid us the same amount of cash. What do you believe is his story?"

Vector shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know who this person is. I want to know what he has in mind for us. No one pays that much money to four people unless he wants them to do something really crazy, illegal, or set the stage for a world war. So, we will get our answers from him once he shows up."

There is too much of this not still adding up. At least only two of us know what is at stake here if anything. The hanger doors open up. We went further into this place to more areas unknown to us. I hear Mr. Death's ranting on being paid. I wish he can silence his voice. The other guy Rampage seems relax or focusing on something important. This place we are in is well organized and fortified. The whole place is built underground and more areas are under construction. Whoever these people are or work for, they are driven by a person of great wealth or power. We didn't really get the chance to sight see this place. All I know is I am in a place in need of men like me. We stop at a door. We didn't expect the associate to be an old man. The others knew him as Woodhouse. I only know him as a strange old man.

He says, "My boss will be with you shortly. He still is busy with his other work. For now, there are refreshments inside the room here and a restroom nearby."

We all enter the room to see fruits, coffee, cake, and small appetizers everywhere. I head for the restroom while the others stand around and talk. This is starting to feel like a special assignment for our governments to work together if that is the case. I cleanup my face and wash away any spot of dirt. Despite how this whole operation is going, the equipment I used gave me an advantage of speed and enhances my sight for long distant shooting. I only hope the true purpose of this mission will be revealed and explained. After I finish up, I walk back out to see Mr. Death shoving food into his mouth. Rampage seems hungry as he is. Only Vector stands away from the others with coffee or tea in his cup. I go over a grab a cup.

I pour the coffee into a cup and say, "My name is Specter. How did you end up in this room before you survived the little problem we had earlier?"

"I ended up here the same as you and the others did. I came from a job to this place by text," he says while drinking. He continues, "Before I was sent into this strange place, I was elsewhere killing off a lot of really dumb people and saving a few law enforcement officers. So, what is your story?"

"Mine is a simple one. Bad people come to crush Russia. So, I make sure they never walk or talk again. My name is Specter. I am Russia's top known assassin."

He says, "I am Vector. A Former Spec Ops for France until five years ago. I became a mercenary to stay off any government service since everyone seems to want their own "justice" brand issued out for them."

We both shake hands and I wait silently for the boss to come in. Rampage and Mr. Death did more talking about their career and style. Not once did neither man let up on the skills, kills, and known feats done. They both go on constantly until we hear the door open up. Before we speak any more, all of us look to Mr. Woodhouse and this well-dressed man beside him. He seems too happy to see us all and extends his warm welcome to us with fancy words. Whoever he is, he has plenty of resources to mobilize any number of businesses off the ground. At least he is ready to tell us why we are here and what did he want.

The well-dressed man looks to us says, "So, this is the mercenary called Vector. He must be the bounty hunter dubbed Mr. Death. The out of retirement hit-man known as Rampage graces me. And, you must be the Russian Assassin your allies whisper about as Spector. Welcome to the greatest change of your life-time."

Mr. Death is ready to clobber the guy for not receiving his money. Vector reminds cool despite his disgust of Mr. Death's manner. Rampage pops his knuckles with a serious look in his eyes. All I do is stand still and wait. I didn't know who these men are or what they want. The reasons for us being here must be of great need to test us with a death trap of hired gunners. At least now, we all will get some answers.

 **Day 65**

 _Unknown Assailant_

I enter the room and see the faces of men who have killed more than their share of enemies. These four have the same look in their eyes. These men have the eyes of the soulless that walk the road towards damnation. I can't be any happier than ever to see these men ready to kill. I step forward only to see two of them grip their gun.

"Hello gentlemen. My name is Mr. Allen Powers. This is Woodhouse. You have all been hired by various agencies to deal with the most craziest and dangerous men and women on the face of this earth. And today, you have proven to me and my staff why you are the greatest of the best of the amazing. Each of you has shown us promises of skills, adaption, and able to be more than what you are now. The little battle you all had early was to see how well you fight as a unit. You easily killed off an entire company of men despite how ineffective you are as a team. I will see to it that you are paid for the men you killed, but there is more to earn if you are interested."

Before I speak any more, Mr. Death says, "Hey yeah about all that killing I did? If you plan on paying me more, you may wanna inform me of who and how many I have to kill. Because, for a quarter million, I will end these chumps here and now."

Vector aims his hand gun at him, "Those words will be your undoing if you want to try me. I've killed men like you before so you are no different Mr. Death."

Rampage laughs and looks at them, "If you two wanna die then by all means, do so. I will take your money after you two beat each other down. And Mr. Powers, do you really expect me to work with these fools before they try to kill each other? I can always just blow them up, cut them into tiny pieces, or shoot their head off."

Specter sips his drink. He asks, "You obviously have us here for a reason other than to kill each other and the crazies you sent at us. So, why not just tell us who the real prize is sir?"

I ask them to follow me and Woodhouse to the main control room. I give praise to Specter for coming to the main point of why I need them here. It is so challenging to get people to work together for a common goal. Vector and Mr. Death are ready to fight it out. Rampage just walks at ease. Spector seems intrigued by how the business is going. As we walk, I continue to inform them of why their skills are in need.

"I ask that you each come here to take on a contract for me. I could have sent to you by Woodhouse, but there were more concerning matters that require my attention. The most important one is the tending of my flowers and plants. You have no idea how hard it is to keep certain ones at a temperature and water level for them to bloom properly."

I get turned around by Mr. Death and my entire surrounding staff members at once pull out their hidden guns. After the security camera guns turn in our direction, lots of red dots appear on Mr. Death. Even with his armor, many other parts of him are exposed to bullets.

He slowly lets me go and calmly says, "I didn't come here to hear and or listen about your flowers up your ass. I really care less about the plants you are shitting out of your ass too. All I want to know is whose the target and how much you are charging to kill him or her?"

I wave my hand down for my staff to lower their guns. I reply, "Your target is not one but many. So, whom are you killing is the real question. The info is in the control room that we are walking to. So, please be patient and do not touch me again."

We all continue to walk, but a small body of guards escort us the rest of the way. Mr. Death receives the vast amount of attention. I give Woodhouse a few more instructions before he leaves from us. I can see how this group may manage. One of them is too easy to irritate. The other three are ok so far. For now, I will only pray they all work out well. Once we come to the room, the escort guards stand by in the room just in case they have to deal with any of my guests again. I turn on the main screen and pull up the files of the only people who have no equal. Hopefully, this team I hire will put an end to them.

"These people are the targets. Code Name: Chaos. Originally, they worked for me. They started off like you four did. From doing basic training here to eliminating high priority targets all over the world, they slowly were made into an effective team of killers. Later, they went on a few more missions without my approval and start making a name for their selves. The more work they did for others, the more it earned them supporters. In return, they took fewer orders from me when greed went to their heads. Soon enough, the ego they once showed me turn to something far more dangerous. They each thought of ambition, power, and wanting more than what they have. A few months went by and they turn their attention back to me. My place of business now is their point of attack. They enlist plenty of other operatives like them to combat my organization and trained a few others to be as good as them for Second-In-Commands. They each now have their own fortress established in the world. They have been hell bent on destroying me."

Specter steps forward. My escort is ready to kill should he do anything but speak.

"I care not for what they are trying to do to you. Only thing that matters is how much you are paying me to dispose of these men. Surely, you know my price is high for one task such as this. Not to forget, they were once your unit. And now, you hope to have a similar or better team put together to erase them from this life."

The others agree to what Specter said, but I suppose it is better for them to find out what kind of trouble they face they are on the mission than walk in blind.

"Each of you will receive half a billion dollars for the targets you must eliminate. The Second-In-Command officers who follow them will be at least five hundred thousand top if they are killed. I am willing though to pay you more if you bring them in alive."

Vector steps forward and says, "If you want the Second-In-Commands brought in alive, then you will have them. As for the main targets, I promise you both on each deal if I can get them to cooperate."

Everyone looks at Vector as though he lost his mind. He nearly convinces me that he can do it with no trouble. I smirk and give him my full support. And of course, here comes Mr. Death to add his two cents in.

"Heh, I will just kill them all and sort out the bodies that are left breathing. The next in line officers can just be delivered to you in a body bag. Why bring them in alive when you want them to stop fucking up your base of operations?"

I laugh and reply, "There is more to keeping them alive than to killing them. I need them alive for interrogation. The more second-in-command officers you bring in alive, the more intelligence we can get from them about the Chaos unit. They have several activities going on across the global. Each base of activities must be eliminated."

Rampage interrupts, "Hold on. Before you keep telling us about the job, what are the names of the Chaos Squad? It will help us better to know who they are."

I turn to him, "All former members of Chaos Squad are unknown. They have changed their name so many times that no one knows who they are. My intelligence team has the locations on the whereabouts of each member, but none of it is one-hundred percent accurate. So, you will have to do some of your own intel gathering to find them. Of course, the more you help me out, the more you can complete your mission and get paid. My resources will be at your disposal. The real question is: do you want to accept this job?"

Vector and Spector agree without hesitation; however, Rampage and Mr. Death didn't jump on board with enthusiasm. I smirk and give them both reassurances.

"Rampage, your family is safe as God is my witness. You have no reason to fear that my company will do any bodily harm to them. Once this is over for you, they shall be return to you without a delay. I prefer to keep them safely hidden so their location does not become known to any 'particular' group of people. This way, you can focus on the job at hand."

Rampage agrees to the terms, but Mr. Death replies, "Well, this guy has a family to try and save. That's all well and good for him. The only problem here is how good is your resources. All I hear is talk and talk about these targets. I hear money talking to me, but your words of what is to come fall short."

A few of my staff members grip their guns as I look to them. I smirk at Mr. Death and say, "The gun we have given you is well over a million dollars seller's market. The people you are going after are about at least half a billion dollars when compared to the people your U.S. government sent you after to capture. You are right now getting paid hourly to accept the job and money transactions are underway as we speak. You are right now at one-hundred thousand dollar just for standing here. If you want to leave now, you may go. We will even give you the specialized machine gun we have made for you as a farewell gift. So, what do you say now?"

Everyone looks to him. He gives me a rough slap to the shoulders and every staff member draws their gun.

He says, "I like how you think! Consider Mr. John Death your contract bounty hunter for the targets. I will hunt them down and bring them back to you. If they are alive, they will give you the information you need so you can continue to pay me. If they are dead, I will be thorough with each one of them before I squeeze the trigger. Without further ado, let me be on my way to the first targets location."

I didn't know whether I should hug the man or give him a new job. He seems a little too excited about killing more than the others. With nothing else to do, I bid the men retire for the moment. I also need time to be away from work for this moment. The only comfort right now is having four able bodied men ready to finish the task that most have turned away from. I send off my escort with them back to the waiting room. I look at the time. It is barely noon. We still have to find out a location of where one might be. I head down to see Woodhouse. I hope he has more exciting news for me too. I find him surrounded by people. He seems to have his hands full with the group in front of his face. I wave at him to dismiss the group until he and I catch up on the news.

Woodhouse says, "Sir, there have been five problematic situations that have just come up since the last attack on our top side operations. I hope you won't mind hearing the details."

I nod and he continues, "Well, our first issue is dealing with the remaining hired gun applicants that have suffered from the attack a few days ago. Some are ready to act and retaliate on our enemy. Since the bombings have crippled our base, the others are seeking to even the score by attacking any sites of the bombers. They need only a word from you. The second issue is more of a financial setback for us. The bombings took out our massive elevator lift. Without it, we are force to use our tank size lifts near the edge to bring up our groups at least three times. The repair fees are considerable. Next, we have the dead that must be buried. A few agents from their own contacts are trying to call them. Right now, I have tech teams sending the calls on loop with their voice mails. We are still trying to think of ways to give the bad news. Our fourth issue is morale. There have been talks about your leadership and capabilities when dealing with formers. Some want to leave. Other think you are just sending more men to die. A few believe that you are just being too cautious to take the offensive. Lastly, it is about these new exceptional men you hired. A few staff members of a particular bunch have believed you made a mistake at picking them. These men have a desire to only get paid, not work as a whole. They seek more for their own personal gain and nothing from our benefit of helping them. With all this that we face, how will you respond to each of these problems?"

I sigh heavily. Once I clear my throat, I answer, "Let the ones who wish to seek retribution be allowed to join our cause. We can never say no to more helping hands and able people. The strength they add to our side will greater benefit our company later on down the road. As for the repairs to the main elevator lift, spend the money and see to its repairs. What we lose financially is always given back to us tenfold. We have endured the worst before. We will endure again and keep going. As for those that died and their former contacts, give them a proper burial and make sure to send off a few thousand dollars to ease the coming frustration. Though we did steal away small armies, we will honor their final requests. And by showing our care and support, we may gain more additional help from who they knew. The morale issue is an easy matter to clear up. I will send you to prep the tech teams to be ready for my speech to the whole facility. They will know my intentions on how I will handle and deal with the former members of Chaos Squad. They cause confusion and crippled my base; yet, we still come back stronger than ever. My former associates will pay for this in their blood. As for the men I hired, I will properly motivate them to be ready for what they will face. They may stand separate from each other, but this is why they will win. When you get people to act as a unit for a high pay, they will greatly enhance your fame by reputation and power. They just need a push in the right direction."

Woodhouse agrees and adds, "I only hope we are not stretching out our resources. The hired associates may help us out during this cause, but I do not want us to have too many people not worth keeping."

I make the problems and concerns easy to handle as turning one's hand over. I send Woodhouse off to do his work. I walk into the restroom and take a moment. I take a moment to enjoy the silence with so many problems I hear of. There seem to be no end to all of these frustrations. I look through my phone and view the text messages from my associates at the flower plantation. Each message tells of promise, progress, and growth. I am happier than a bird eating food off the ground. My roses are slowly blooming more. I feel the tension roll off my back. The problems at my facility disappear as I think of nothing but great flowers showing how lovely they can be. I make use of my time and wash up my hands. I adjust my attitude and splash water on my face. Once I step out there, I wave to a cart driver for assistance. It will be time to lift my voice up and motivate my people to maintain their work pace. I head to the tech room in thirty minutes by cart. With my business suffering from Chaos Squad, I worry less. My flowers are doing well is all that matter. You would have never thought I cared so deeply for plants. I step off the cart and into the room. I see the area is setup and good to begin. I greet everyone inside and let them know to start. The video feed is ready. I give the O.K. signal and let the entire place hear my voice. The crew begins broadcasting my channel all over.

"Attention staff members! I understand that the last few days have been tough on us. Well, there is a damn good reason for it too. We are still recovering from the last attack by Chaos Squad. A lot of you are wondering what my plan for them is. I am telling you now. We will return the favor tenfold. They will not get away with these acts of terror. The atrocities from the rogues have gone on long enough. I promise you all that they will pay for what they have done to us. Once we correct this mistake, we shall have no one else to stop us. I ask that you all continue your best and stay focused. We have the best of the best of the greatest here with us. We will see Chaos Squad fall at the hands of my new team."

With the message said, Woodhouse and I return to our four specialists to see how they are getting along. The crowd seems glad for the message of my retaliation. Before Woodhouse can ask the other mercenaries and killers for their choice, they are already agreeing to join us as we pass by a few groups. Everyone is eager for payback. With so much help now coming to us, our chance for victory will be greatly increased. The Chaos Squad made their attacks painful. The only good news is how strong our resolve was from the damage. It has been too long have I waited to strike back at them. This is our time to deal them a fatal blow to what they control. Every group we pass by, they give me the promise to do their best. Any mercenary, killer, hunter, and tracker agrees to join the cause for revenge. The motivation speech isn't the all-time year winner, but it is enough to bring everyone to focus on the next phase. Woodhouse and I head back to the waiting room. We open the door to see our four special guests with guns and knives out. I didn't know what the issue is, but there is about to be blood everywhere shortly if they get into it.

"You think you are skilled enough to kill me? You picked the wrong person to fuck with Rampage."

"Yeah, well maybe I like to fuck with dumbasses like you since you leave yourself open to get blown up or shot up Mr. Death."

Vector and Specter stand perfectly back, looking on. A few other staff members enter the room to try and keep them calm. I can already see that this will be the group that does what no other team has done before. They…will…kill…them.

 **Day 65**

 _Rampage_

If this American prick doesn't watch his attitude, it will cost him. Luckily for him, our host comes to inform us of the next assignment for us. This whole situation didn't give me any time for peaceful thoughts. I only need to know where to go and who to kill. I am still alert and ready to kill. All this chatting is bringing me no closer to my wife and child. The host calmly expresses his thanks for us working somewhat together. His illusions of us working together must be making him too over confident about our success. Mr. Powers ask us to retire and relax our guard for now. The first mission will begin soon in one week. We have waited long enough.

"Look Mr. Powers, we have been sitting around and waiting more than the time we should be allowed. They can sit and wait if you desire them to be at ease, but I rather you just stop beating around the bush and tell us where the next destination is at."

Everyone turns their head to my direction. Mr. Powers comes to me with open arms as if I need a hug. He may get a knife up his ass.

He says, "We don't have anything available right now. Our operatives are moving towards their objectives and require no further help. You will have to wait."

Before another word comes from him, a person comes barging in. She is tired from her run. Woodhouse brings her to the table and brings water over.

She says, "Sir, our teams at the front entrance are suffering. There are a few remaining attack factions that are still staging attacks on our surface forces. We have yet to push them out of the area."

She takes a few sips of her water. This is the moment I need. The more I can do, the better they will send me more intel on my family. I lock and load my guns. The host and staff look to me as I ready myself. Before I leave, Mr. Death just has to be an ass.

He says, "Why would you go and help them? That is their fight. It doesn't have anything to do with us. Plus, you may get your face shot off."

I calmly ignore him. I approach the woman and ask, "Where are they at? How badly is the situation? How many numbers am I up against?"

The woman is at a loss for words. Mr. Powers nods his head for her to provide me with the intel on what is going on. She tells me about the formation of the small camp. It has a few sentry guards in trees. The closer you get to the center is more fortified. They have a few trucks with mounted chain guns and small artillery launchers just behind them. It sounds too good to be true. I turn to the host and promise him that I will rid the area of all the attackers single-hand with no additional support. For each kill I get, I will only accept no more than one-thousand. For the ones that have any info, I will take five-thousand. He accepts my offer, but Vector raises his voice.

He scoffs and stands up, "You're letting this bitch go? Heh, I can do his job easy without even breaking a sweat. Let me do it. I will take the same amount of payment he does without wasting too much time."

Specter steps forward and says, "These two may be good, but what about getting the job done and bringing your teams back. I can easily save not only the lives of your men, but end the others in only thirty minutes tops. No sense sending a hit-man explosive expert or a Spec Op mercenary of worthless talent."

Mr. Death fires his hand gun into the ceiling and forces us all to face him. He adds, "All this talking and not enough action. Leave these three here. I will go ahead and wipe the land clear of them and bring you their bodies back all in one truck."

We all are eager to go and take down this mob of troublesome fools. Mr. Powers decides to let us all try and whoever does well will get the reward. We all head out the door and hop on one of the carts. The driver takes us towards the main front of their door step. Along the way, we adjust our weapons and gear to be ready. We see everyone running everywhere to their next destination or passing on reports. I didn't care what else is going on. Right now, this is my chance to learn more of what I need. Some give out orders and many just wait. Once we arrive at the front door, it is pure panic. I see people hauling in others to get them to the medical room. These people attacking the place didn't let up on their attack. We get off the cart and rush up the ramp way to see a truck pull up with more wounded people. We get inside the jeep and hear the driver update us.

"You must be the new guys. I hope you can help change the situation up top. Those fanatics are not playing any shit."

As we drive up the entrance, Vector asks, "Is it that bad up there?"

He says, "Yeah, we have about a handful of teams under suppressive fire from various gun squads. They have one area pinned down by the motor and artillery shells. We can push them back if anyone manages to get the fight under our control. Right now, we got more wounded coming back…"

A bullet slams into the driver's chest. He loses control of the jeep. We all jump out. He was well informative about the skirmish. I hurry to cover. I join a small band near a shot up car. I see Vector uses his camouflage gear and disappears. Mr. Death strolls to a truck and lays down fire. Specter is no-where to be seen. I peek over the top and see a mob ready to roll over us. An artillery shell explodes near us, but no more follow afterwards. I look down to see a frighten man pulling at my sleeve to use the grenade launcher. All I do is smile as I load the weapon. I come from cover and fire one shot at the first mounted gunner vehicle. An easy kill but it isn't over yet. I reload again and fire at another. I take out a few groups and shout for the advance. The frontal assault works as the enemy starts retreating. It is still hard to wrap my mind around the battle. I went from killing small-time rival gangs to leading charges into enemy forces. This may have not been my line of work, but if it means saving my wife and kid, so be it. A few more men drop dead from the bullet barrage of Mr. Death. He truly lives up to his name. I see other soldiers drop from getting shot in the back or head. Vector must be making use of his camouflage as the enemy runs. A handful makes it to their trucks and drive off leaving only small squads behind to hold off our charge. The remaining teams take over the artillery shell launchers only to find out the loaders are empty. This victory may have been a small win just to give them false hope. As the other mercenaries finish off and capture those that are left, I walk over to a single soldier left alive with a wound in his leg. He tries to reach for his side arm. A bullet scratches his hand away from it. I look around only to be joined by Mr. Death and Vector. Since neither of them claims the shot, I can only assume Specter did the deed. A few mercenaries come by and haul the guy off. Radio chatter goes off with our friendly Woodhouse on the com channel.

"My boss sends his praises to you all. With the front door now clear, the enemy will think twice before advancing. The encampment is just only a few miles north of the area. So, they will return. Till then, remain on stand-by. Fortify the entrance and salvage what is around the area."

Specter joins us and says, "We are not staying here playing guard duty. Let's go ahead and find their camp so we can end this."

The others agree, but I reply, "Even if we go, how are we going to track the enemy? We don't have coordinates of where they are. We just know they are north of the area."

Mr. Death answers, "We will just have to follow the smell of fear. Plus, I am sure one of us knows how to track them. Or maybe, one of you can be the dog and smell where they shit at."

Vector shakes his head in disappointment. He adds, "This is no trouble for us. I have a good idea of which part of north they came from. If they did a frontal assault, it means they have not one established camp but at least two. The first group we took out is meant to keep us preoccupied and on guard. Once they stop attacking the front door, they will try to have hit and run groups around to keep us focused on them. That will be camp one. The other camp will be used to gather intel on us, scout for other ways around the front door and keep 'certain' areas of less interest off of our focus that they will use to surprise us when we finally relax our guard."

"How do you know this," I ask him.

"Because this is exactly what I would do when faced with a large organization."

I nod my head in agreement. So, we look for a means of travel. We borrow a pickup truck. A few mercenaries come to try and stop us. Mr. Death fires warning shots at them. They dare not raise their guns as we drive off. Based on what Vector tells us, the enemy may be north but the real base is somewhere else. We drive off the main road and start heading into the woods. We didn't have long to wait for another reply to come from our host. Mr. Powers didn't seem happy with us leaving base and firing at his hired mercenaries.

The com channel goes off and he says, "I believe my instructions were very clear. Stay at the base and cover the entrance till we figure out where they are waiting at. This is no time to give away our movement."

Vector answers, "I know where they are going. If we get this done, we will not have to worry about where they are. Once the job is over, expect us back with news of our success."

Mr. Death brings up, "We all will need a huge pay after this job is over. So, expect a reply back in one hour."

There is a moment of silence until the host says, "As you wish. My vehicles have a built in map display. I will send you the possible area of where the enemy is at."

With Vector driving, Specter looks at the monitor to see all the highlighted areas. It shows marks on ridges and a few possible territories. This is all new to me yet I like how well Vector handles himself. Specter is eager yet steadfast. Mr. Death is too eager and greedy. For now, if using them means finding my family, then so be it. They can offer me insight and new ways to fight. Vector slams on the break and points to an open area on the screen.

"This is where they will be. This area is a good spot point where the enemy can be at a long time but not for long. This open crater like area is perfect for them to launch raids from."

Mr. Death says, "Ha, they can't be there. The only way out for them is a small dirt road. Not to mention, too many high points are surrounding them. A sniper can easily pick them off if they didn't have sentries in the tress or patrolling units."

Specter turns to him, "And what does an American Bounty Hunter know of modern warfare? You probably will say that the enemy is on the main road next having tea."

Before Mr. Death answers, I reply, "Vector seems certain the enemy is here. We will look into this area. If they are there, Vector will let us know how to proceed. If not, we can look into the intel the organization has given us. Till then, we move."

Specter and Mr. Death silently sit back. Vector heads for the destination. The whole trip feels like at any moment one of us will try and kill the other. Mr. Death is an over-bearing asshole. Specter is an observing prick. Vector is still hard to read. We arrive at the area no more than a few yards out. We all adjust out weapons, reload, and make our way up a hill slope. Once we reach the top, we see more than what we need to know. A single encampment of more than a few men stands ready and alert. Vector's experience on war and Mr. Death's assumption of the field paid off. There are sentries in the trees ready to sniper. A few patrolling units around the land to keep an eye out for anyone sneaking in or around the encampment. The whole area is covered by a few trees. Only advantage we have is surprise and sabotage. We all pull back and discuss how we will handle this attack. Specter keeps looking and scanning the area. Specter adjusts his rifle.

Vector says, "So, we found their little camp. They must have been setting up here for weeks given how things look. Our best plan is to hit it hard and fast. We may need heavy cover if things go south."

Mr. Death scoffs at the idea and says, "The only cover I will lay down on is the bullets that those fools will run from when they are covered in blood and the dead. Your plan is as stupid as it gets. Our best plan is to do more than hit them hard and fast. The best plan to do is kill everyone and make enough of a mess to make them halt their little plans."

I reply, "You two only see strength and power. I see cunning and distractions being the best way to do this plan. One of us keeps the main forces focusing on their attention."

Specter calls to us. He says, "We all can do this using our own methods. There is a spot for me to use. Once I take up my position, sniper fire will be easy for me all the entire time. One of you can slip in among the commotion and kill as many as you like if you can avoid detection. A few explosive rounds and bombings can make the enemy more confused. Lastly, at least someone makes sure they did not get out from the only exit and entrance they have. The transportation they got isn't bullet proof I'm sure. We only got maybe five to fifteen minutes to get ready before they move with the hit and run tactics."

With everyone moving with the plan to do his own way, we all move from our arrival point and get ready to make as much of a mess as we can. I run to a good spot on the slope leading into the crater. I didn't care where else these fools will end up. They can die for all I care. They are just a means to an end. I hear a sniper fire. It sounds like Specter is making those sentry men die quickly. I make it to my spot. I quickly fashion my handguns into a hand-grenade launchers with a sticky side for each bomb. All I need is six bombs to do this. I look ahead to see commotion within the base. They hear the sniper. I only wait till more noises occur. I pass by a few men who have the neck, chest or face bleeding. Vector must be moving through the place dispatching a few soldiers here and there. With the base on alert mode, it is time to make some noise. I fire off two sticky bombs at different locations. I get into position.

One…two…three…boom!

With the roar of my explosive bombs sending the camp into a frenzy state, it looks amazing. I charge at a few men coming around the area. I stab and shoot them with no hesitation. No mercy can be given to them. It is time for this place to burn by the hands of Rampage.

 **Day 65**

 _Mr. Death_

The two explosions send the entire camp of mercenary scum into panic. It is good that those three push overs have are making some real noise. It is my turn to bring death to the field. I stroll to the front and exit of the camp. I take aim and mow down groups of them. A handful of men stand in front of me. They fire a wave of bullets at me. It is too bad for them when they see no blood. I say to them, "Now it is my turn, assholes." I make dead bodies in a matter of seconds as they all try to run and dodge my gun fire. This is why John Death is here. I will take home the body count for today. I hear sniper fire in the distant as Specter takes down his tree targets and group leaders. Heh, he probably has not even killed as many as I have. Shit, my machine gun is dry and no time to reload. I switch to my handguns. I walk by my enemies and end their life without any trouble. What is this? Someone tries to tackle me? I put my side arm away and grab the guy. I lift him above my head and get shot at by his friends. No effect. I break his back with ease. The others try to run. They get killed by an unseen person. Only Vector can be doing that. Or maybe it is Rampage? There is nothing else to stop us. The whole encampment of mercenaries are left confused, lost, and frighten. They are trying to adjust the place peacefully. I arrive in the center and shout to all that stay hidden if any. The noise slowly calms as I take the main floor.

"Is this all you have to offer Mr. Death? Your power is broken. You are leaderless and without direction. How can you hope to stop me if you are all going to hide from me? I am giving you a chance to come and take my life. I won't be using my bullets left to kill you, only my bare hands. If you can kill me, you may live. If you can hurt you, then I may let you go. But only if you don't die against Mr. Death first."

I drop my machine gun and side arms to the ground. I look and scan the area to see a few hesitating to fight me. Out of from the side, a tall brute of a man comes charging at me. I easily knock him to the side and go to town on his face. Before I get another hit on him, I get whacked upside the back by a metal bat swinger. I dodge his last few swings before I grab him and snap his neck. Who else wants some? Oh great. The brute with the messed up face tries me again. He breaks his knuckles on my body armor. I trip him on his back and stomp his face one good time. He rolls to the side in pain. A few more come charging at me. I trip one, kick another in the side, elbow a third upside his head, and back fist the last one to the ground. I look behind me. Shit, here comes more. In a matter of moments, I am surrounded by what is left of the mercenaries. I better take out my knife and get ready for them. One guy tries to get me. I stab his side. I get a little overwhelmed by a few of them, but a new fighter joins the brawl. I look around to see Rampage kicking ass and throwing guys to the dirt. He joins me by my side while I pick myself up. He pulls out his knife too.

"Typical American, you think you are Mr. Bad Ass till you get yours handed to you by a gang. You almost bring disgrace to your reputation."

I scoff at him, "And I suppose you can take down more by hand than blowing them up with a bomb? I like to see you try."

"You see that is the difference with me and bombs. Explosions help but a knife is up close and personal. So, let's see who kills the most, shall we?"

I greatly reply, "We shall!"

Two men come at us, but we easily dispose of them. The bad guys are surrounding us at every turn. I slit another man's throat and dislocate the arm of another. Rampage easily beats down one guy and rams his knife into another one's head. The more we take down, the more others rush to the center. Ha, let them all come! I got energy for the day. With all the destruction and fire raging on, a fighter tries to get me in a head lock. Before he can try anything, he lets out a huge groaning sound. He is stabbed in the neck by Specter. I couldn't help but laugh. And uncloaking beside us is Vector. Here we are covering each other's back against the remaining horde. We got bullets for our hand gun and a knife to ram up someone's ass. Before we can engage, we hear additional gun fire coming from elsewhere. We look up to see choppers and reinforcements coming to our aid. I collect my guns from the ground and we all wait for our honored host to arrive. The reinforcements take down any resistance left and round up the wounded survivors. We all get a job well done speech from commandos and jump into the vehicle to be driven home. Our enemy didn't even pose a threat to me. Hopefully the other guys left a few VIPs alive for them to extract any information from. I know I made sure the land is covered in dead bodies. The drive back to base still has me begging for more fighters.

I say, "Now that was a satisfying fight. I got my share of bodies to kill. You guys need to learn how to keep up."

Rampage laughs and turns to me, "You walked in the front of the place and made a mess than us. You may have killed a lot, but you still lack real training."

Our drive to base is a good one. Specter and Vector remain quiet the entire way. There is nothing else for those two warlike men to say. They should really learn to be more relaxed than stuck up. After we arrive at the base, we receive even more praise and cheers from the staff. We have nothing but admiration for our skills, our strength, and our tactics. We get escorted back to the host. I can hear him congratulating us on a job more than just well done.

I can relax and kick back. I know I did a damn good job on my assault. The other two look too serious. They should learn how to relax like me. It is easy to get a job done when you are the best in the business of killing. Man, this person driving us to the host needs to slow his driving down. We are on a cart, not a sports car. He is driving too fast for me to look at the monitors of our success. Once he stops, we all stroll in the place. Of course, I keep my own morale high since the other half can't. We calmly wait until he dismisses his staff leaving only a personal guard behind with us. There is a moment of silence until I speak.

I approach him, "Well, how do you like our skills now? We went in and made sure that they won't be a bother to you no more. Plus, you didn't have to waste any more time in worrying about them coming back. So, I will expect that large sum of money to be transferred to my account."

The host turns to me and fires a gun at my leg. He actually shoots me in the leg and knows where to hit me at. I go down in pain. I look at my leg to see he shot me in the area not covered by the body armor. That little fucker actually shot me?! He shot and put a bullet in Mr. Death?! Oh hell no. This man just earned his death mark from me.

I shout, "What the hell was that for? You old bastard! You just fucked with the wrong person!"

Before I say another word, a set of assault rifles are aimed at me. I hope they realize that the armor they are allowing me to use is bullet proof.

Mr. Powers slips his revolver back into his holster and says, "I only shot you because of your lack of discipline in the field. You went in recklessly and took out a number of people that could have held vital information to the operations. I would also shoot Rampage, but you serve as the prime example of what happens to those that fail me. Only Vector and Specter did the right thing despite how they left their foes in a state of pain. Vector managed to subdue four top informers that have been secretly gaining orders from Chaos Squad. Each one of these four have either the exact known location of one of the operatives or they know where they can possibly be at. I know this because my army has been marking those particular people as high priority targets. Specter performed well by taking down additional mercenaries who in turn beg to join of our growing facility. They prove useful to have with us despite the fact they can be double agents or infiltrators bent on sabotage. If there is one thing you will remember, it is that working for me means no mistakes and no failures. You all may do as you like in the field of battle; however, each plan you perform has either great rewards or severe consequences. Let that be your lesson for today Mr. John Death. And be glad you are lucky you got a scratch from me. My bullets in my gun are meant to pierce through your armor. The bullets in my staff's guns are meant to pierce and kill you. Vector and Specter will receive one-thousand for each of the mercenaries that alive and additional five hundred for the information that we gather from our attackers. Rampage and Mr. Death will only receive a mere two hundred for each man that they killed out there. If there is nothing else left, see to it that they are escorted back to the waiting room and have someone patch up Mr. Death. I will see you in thirty minutes."

The gun squad pull away from me. I am completely beyond upset. This old bastard thinks putting a bullet in my leg will make me change my style of killing? He may be paying me a ton of cash for being here, but it will only be to later hire more boys to protect his wrinkled ass. I limp myself out the door. The others didn't say a word as we left for the cart. I look at my leg to find that the bullet went through me. I can easily patch this up. The surge of pain running through my leg leaves me full of rage. I wish I can just shoot up the man. We get into the cart and head for the waiting room. I look over my gear to keep my focus off my leg wound. I will make sure that this insult does not go unpunished. We are still getting praises from the staff and the other mercenaries. They admire how we stopped all the attacks coming to the base. I just don't give a fuck about how they feel or the amount of praise I get from them. The only thing that is certain will be my final task once this is over. After I take all the help and money from this place, I will burn it down. And when I finally have Mr. Powers all alone, he will either be captured by me or die by my hands.

We get back to the waiting room. Once we walk into the door, we see other hired gun folk and mercenaries enjoying the food. We all receive a huge praise from others and even a few approach us. I see Vector talking things over with a few young hot heads. Rampage stands quietly in the corner with his knife twirling in his hand. Specter sits down with a huge group of them to share his story. I just grab a table and have a small drink of bud light to ease my anger. With the conversations all around my head, I just let the taste of beer keep me happy. I look over the gear and weapons the others have. Not bad, but nothing like what I have on. I listen in on a few conversations to hear how this one person got into killing his first victim. I hate it when guys boast about how successful their first time was. It is like listening to a man's first time having sex. A few other heavy guys sit beside. One looks at me too hard and the other three lean back in their chair. I hope they are not more people sent after me. I continue to drink my beer. I let the flow of chat dance around my ears. The person eye balling me clears his throat.

He says, "So, are you the one who took out all those guys at the camp?"

I glare at him fiercely, "What does it matter to you if I laid waste to a bunch of fools?"

The man laughs loudly and says, "It doesn't matter to me how they died. I know who you are Mr. Death. You are the American Bounty Hunter known all on the north side, east coast, western terrain, and south lands of the U.S. It is an honor to meet someone who has been marked for death by so many gangs, criminal underdogs, and mob associates. The only people who truly like your work are warlords, crazed army nut jobs, and people like me. I am one of your many fans and would like to hear how well you keep yourself alive in this kind of work. And trust me; my team is willing to pay for your info."

I swallow my remaining beer and say, "Well I can only tell you one secret to being good at this business. The main rule: Never underestimate the other killers in the room."

They all bust out laughing. I have to admit it was a little funny. It was not even a rule yet I told numerous killers, murders, thieves, and outlaw men those words. They ask for a few more drinks over to our table. I decide to sit back and listen to their words of joy. Last time I was in a situation like this, I had to murder the group. Hopefully, these guys are not the same. Each time this has happen, it always ends with someone dead. I knock back a few more rounds with them. My guard is still up. I am just waiting for them at any time to try something stupid.

The second guy asks me, "So, what makes you so special at your job? I have been in this business for a good five years. I have not been asked by the U.S. government to do any jobs for them, so why they picked you?"

I lean back and reply, "I got picked because I made a name for myself ten years ago. Hell, it was not easy either. I had to go to the worst of places before I started getting phone calls for jobs to capture people alive. I took on city gangs, rival gangs, corrupt cops, and associates with connections to mob ties, and even put down whole corrupt corporations that were rivals to other companies. So, yeah I had fun doing that. I learned a few skills too."

I take another drink and continue, "The best piece of advice and ways to get better is this: Start small. You always wanna start at the bottom and do light work. Your light work can be anything. It may be gaining info from an informer or even hearing stories about someone. Once you do enough light work and get your feet wet, the work will get challenging later on. If you are thorough with your work, the tasks ahead will be more intense to see if you will fold or step up; however, the more you step up, the more you gotta watch your back. You will always have others trying to step on you, stab you in the back, or even use your skills to help them get what they need. Once you get yourself established, the rest of your skills come down to how good you are. The more you keep bleeding, the more you will get tired of bleeding. I always look at bleeding from your body as a sign of saying: Do better and stop the wounds."

The four guys nod their head in admiration for my knowledge. We all drink heavy and eat plenty of food. The door opens and Mr. Powers walks on in. He seems in a good mood than early. I guess he has the update on what we will do next. He adjusts his tie and clears his throat.

"Tomorrow is our day for the first mission to start. We got one of the known Chaos Squad members found. The location is in a rough area of a jungle. I expect you all to sleep well and get ready for tomorrow."

That's good. Finally, I have someone better to kill. And he makes his speech short and on point. I am glad he is gone. At least we get the rest of the day off. I am glad for it too. Any more shooting for today can result in his ending. The drivers for each of us offer a trip back to our own place. I can go home and nurse this leg of mines. With no one else worth killing, a quiet night at home with time to ready myself will be good. We all get a few farewells and goodbyes by fellow killers. My leg is hurting from the bullet wound. My rage is slowly cooling down. This day may be over, but tomorrow will be a day for a new plan. The only thing that is certain will be my final mission. In the end, Mr. Powers will die.

 **Day 66**

 _Vector_

He comes over to debrief us on how our mission will go. He has a disappointed look on his face. I didn't care what he feels or how he sees us. We all know why we are here with these fools. A member of the Chaos Squad is here operating in this neck of the woods. The contract for us is a simple task: Find the target and shoot to kill. Like any of my previous jobs, I am ready for the task to begin. God, I wish this asshole will stop with his damn morale boost of negative insults. He is putting more fear into this bunch than inspiring them with words of glory. Heh, he keeps on pushing his ugly wrath on this scary sniper. I am surprise that the man didn't piss himself. He has been going on about this mission run for the last two minutes. If it isn't about how some of us will die, then it will be over what we are facing. At least he is now going into the details of it.

He says, "Your target is the Chaos Squad member. He's been operating out in this part of the world for quite some time. Since this is the jungle you are to expect traps all over. Our employer wants us to bring the person back to base alive. If the man refuses to submission, then we have no choice. The 'Shoot to kill' policy on the priority target must be a last resort. So, check your triggers dumbasses. Once you are boots on the ground, you will be on your own. There is only one extraction point. The extraction point will only offer a twelve hour window. Right now, you have been given authorization for weapons free. The man is going through a small conflict with jungle party raids done by radicals. So, you will use the conflict to your advantage."

He continues, "We got about ten minutes before we come under fire by A.A. guns. So, get ready. A lot of you may die as you fall to the ground. There are only twenty-five of you dumb fucks here. You will be operating under Commander Jack till he dies. No reinforcements are coming to support you. Remember that shit. Other than that, I start praying right now."

With only ten minutes left, everyone gets a parachute on their back. Only the four of us didn't make as much chatter. The rest seem anxious or nervous. We only have twelve hours to do this job. This is going to be a simple walk in the park for me and maybe Specter. We both have military training for missions like these. The sniper guy is still nervous. Commander Jack shoves him lightly and reminds him to relax. Nearly half way through our ten minute wait, we hear the explosive on the outside starboard side. Those A.A. guns start early. The asshole comes to the back of the plane and opens the door. He stands at the back and starts calling to every person to dive out. He kicks open the door and signals us. We all start rushing to the back. One by one, the guy sees them fly downward to the surface. After everyone else left, the four of us wait a little longer. The guy starts screaming for us to jump. I waste no time and take my jump followed closely by Specter. Ah, the feel of the air rushing pass my body. I lean to the left and right as to avoid the gun fire. I wait till I am a little closer to the surface before deploying my chute. I come in on a rough landing, but no broken bones. I have about a half a mile walk. I have to be careful. Traps can be anywhere. Not long into my walk, I get into a scuffle with local gun men. I put two of them down with my assault rifle only to get tackled by the others. Before they can do a lot to me, they all get shot in the head. I push them off me to see Specter coming up.

He says, "I see you can hold your own. Unlike the other two, I will get you out of trouble if only to be successful at my task."

I scoff at his help, "Yeah, well you better hope I return the favor if you should get into trouble."

The gun sounds nearby alerts us. We focus on the direction it comes from and head over towards the area. The jungle is thick with tress. We slowly advance through the harsh environment. Whoever this target is, they pick a good place to be ready for trouble. There is nothing but thick bushes and large trees with plenty of ways to become a ghost. The only advantage we have right now is the locals here. The more they keep causing trouble, the better our chances. After we pass some bushes, we see bullets bouncing off Mr. Death as he guns down the local militia trying to swarm him. An explosion happens just ahead of him. We both calmly sneak down the hill and put down any others advancing on him. With the locals now dead, we reform and listen in on radio chatter.

"This is Commander Jack. All survivors are to report to land site mark by green smoke. Watch for traps and ambushes. Repeat, watch for traps and ambushes. They got a lot of pit holes everywhere. We assault the commanding grounds soon."

Before we can move, Specter calls to us, "We should not be heading towards the green smoke. If we will be able to see it, so can everyone else. Who is to say that this may be a disaster for us too? We will do best to keep our distant and head further elsewhere."

Mr. Death adds, "A little paranoid for you wouldn't you say? Once we get back in touch with the rest, it will be an easy stroll for us to take down this Chaos Squad target."

Rampage walks over and interrupts, "I will just leave you fools to waste time. I am going ahead and will take down the whole area with a few bombs."

None of this feels right. We are no more than only a few minutes away from where we drop at. Commander Jack may be calling for us to regroup, but it all sounds wrong. The others continue to debate over what to do. I have a better idea to put all of them at ease than debate.

"None of us should go to the green smoke. Our best plan is to go closer to an encampment. If we can get to another enemy patrol, we can take one of their radios and listen in on the commands being issued. It will be a lot better than following the plan Commander Jack told us. Not to mention, we can all get more done using our own skills."

I get a friendly slap on my shoulder by Mr. Death who says, "I like how you think. You said the smartest thing yet. So, let's go ahead and disappear and do our own thing."

The other two agree. We make our way through the harsh terrain. Nothing but jungle vines and muddy spots to move through. The heat is unbearable. This kind of place takes me back to my early years as a spec operative. I was in many hazardous areas that involve sweating like a buffalo in heat. Many troops that I fought with never got far in this kind of weather. Some die from heat strokes. A few others that travel with me passed out from exhaustion. Only the toughest can endure the heat to see the end. We encounter some deadly traps along our journey. A few pit holes have claimed lives. Some traps show signs of being worn out from constant use. The journey through the forest is not easy to take. A few claymore bombs are scattered throughout the land. At least the target makes it a challenge for us to navigate through. Mr. Death's complaining isn't making the journey any better. After about two hours of hard walking, we all take a break.

Specter drinks from his water bottle and says, "This heat is unbearable. I don't understand why our first target is in a hot zone like this."

Rampage rubs his face with a piece of cloth, "This kind of heat reminds me of a kill I did some years back. The heat is equally tough, but I push through it."

Mr. Death pushes through some thick bushes and springs a trap. A tree log comes swinging at us. I duck quickly out of the way as it slams into a tree.

"Mind what you touch in this jungle. Any place we travel can have more than one trap."

Mr. Death replies, "Well, it is a good thing we have you around to point out and dismantle each one."

I scoff at his remark and continue to move through the area. Before I get too far, I face off against a screaming man. He has blood covering his face and tries to stab me. I knock him down and engage him as he tries to go for my side arm. I twist his arm and send him falling into the dirt. I pull out my handgun and put three in the back of his head. The others look at him, confused as I am. The man has blood on his face. We know some locals have guns; however, who else are we facing. We advance forward despite the traps and heat we endure. We finally get a nice break. We hear machinery just below us and various voices. We all crawl towards an edge and look upon a wonderful site. At the front, local jungle fighters fall back. They carry their wounded allies back to the safe zone. On the other end, two guard towers with mounted guns hold them at bay. Specter looks through his scope at the camp.

He says, "Well, now this is fun. Nothing but pure excitement for us. At least six towers with two gunners inside. The place is mostly a ground base operation. The local militia is only a few yards away from the area, but who knows if they are going to accept defeat. And we have a surprise at the center of camp."

The rest of us take binoculars out and look at the center of the base. I almost can't believe what I am seeing. Commander Jack has become a prisoner in the base of our target. Half of his squad hold guns pointing at them. The rest are knelled down. This is getting interesting. I look a little to the right. I let others know our target is in good view. The target is of medium height. He has about several men in heavy armor around him. He stands up and walks over to Commander Jack. Out from the right of the surrounding group, a familiar face shows up. It is the same man from early. The same ugly face flight boss from early stands proudly at the side of the target. He whispers a few words to the target. Without any more words, Commander Jack is embraced by the others. Those still knelling down shout at him. The target nods his head. The rest are gun down. As we pull away from the edge, we all hear a gun cocked. I look to see the frighten sniper ready to shoot us. I ask him to relax. He still feels uneasy. I assure him that he won't die by my hand. We all are intrigued to know what is going on.

The sniper explains, "All of this was a setup. The moment we touch on the ground, we got hit hard by the local militia. Some of us went running into the woods, but the traps got some of them. Once Commander Jack told us to rendezvous at the green smoke, we were ambushed by the forces hiding in the trees. I stayed hidden in a hole and watched the same son of a bitch walk off with the target. The asshole from early on the aircraft was on the enemy's side from the moment we began this op. I have been on the move since. I didn't know where else to go to until I saw you guys moving towards this place. This is a no-win situation. There is no back up coming to aid us. We have no way of getting this job done. Not to mention, now the commander is helping the enemy. Our chances went from fortunate to beyond grim. We all gotta get out of here."

Before I can say a word, Specter punches the sniper, "Running away from a fight will not save us. This isn't the time to give up so easily. We may be out numbered, but we can still do this. The militia may still be of use to us if we help them. All they need is a little push. I say you and I take two separate tree on different sides of this land. The rest of them can lure the army together. You are now going to see how we handle two-faced bastards like him. Now get on your feet."

Specter pulls him up and hands him back his sniper rifle.

Mr. Death pops his knuckles, "Sounds like a good idea. I will get the locals to join me. All they need is my words and unstoppable might. Once I get them attacking the front, you guys can do what you will. Try not to get shot in the face from us."

He leaves us to go find the other camp. Rampage looks to me, "All I can do is give you explosive cover. Since this is your area of expertise, I will give you the bombs and cover the young sniper here. Specter and his firing position will help us get through this."

With my camouflage suit, placing the bombs will be easy. I take the bombs off Rampage and activate my suit. I can easily make moves on the enemy undetected. The plan of doing our own work seems ok. I can care less what the others do. I am ready to get this target captured. I get close to the camp and try not to move too fast or leave any bomb too obvious to see. I slowly place one bomb near a depo of ammo. This will do great. The bomb is placed inside a small plant. I wait for the patrol guard to walk by. They all seem happy. I follow them closely and keep my distance from them. I find them walking right into their vehicle depo. There it is! A perfect set of fuel cans right next to some gasoline hole. I can't add the bomb yet. Too many people in the way. Shit, now there is gun fire. Did Specter shoot too soon? Maybe it is Rampage with the other sniper? Either way, the vehicle depo is clear. I drop the bomb in between the barrels. I wish Rampage gave me more to use. Only two bombs left to place. I go further to the noisy part of the camp. I don't believe this fool. Mr. Death not only is at the front, but he has the local militia ready to fight. They may not be enough, but they will do. I hear a clicking sound. Great, now the bombs are ready to go off. That stupid ass hit-man is trying to take me out too. I throw the last two in different directions. My cloak suit turns off. A few guards try to chase me. Suddenly, the bombs go off and throw everything out of order. Damn it, these stupid fuckers should have waited. I better lock and load. I come to my first corner. Click, click. Two of them are down. I move as fast as I can for cover. Here comes more of them. I turn the corner again. Click, click, click, click, click, and click. Six kills. All around my head I can hear the noise of others screaming. So, many dead and others are about to die. I make my way towards the center only to be knocked down by an enemy combatant. Before he can shoot me, Mr. Death knocks him down and put one through his head.

He says, "I didn't save you so you can live. He was just in my sight. Now get your ass up before you die."

I get off the ground and ready myself for a handful to come at us. Mr. Death easily mows them down with his machine gun as we press forward. We walk by and pass through areas as we see the dead everywhere. A man dies violently by Rampage as he stabs him at every vital point. Mr. Death pulls him back only to see the man relieved. While they chat up for a while, I continue moving closer to my objective. I see the target gunning down a few of the enemies trying to kill him. I receive radio chatter from one of my associates.

"This is Specter. Let the man lure you into his so-called home. I already got eyes locked on him thanks to my modified sniper rifle. He will either surrender peacefully or die by my hands."

With steady hands and alert senses, I move into the building ready for anything unexpected. I find a large room with dead men all around. The asshole from early is standing beside the target. He seems overly relaxed. Right behind him, the target I need to capture or eliminate. He is in heavy gear and ready for combat. The man shows no signs of wanting to fight, but I am not about to let my guard down. With Mr. Death and Rampage still outside, this gives me time to gather as much as I can on who Chaos Squad really is.

"I see that my old contractor has been keeping himself busy as always. No doubt he sent you and others here to take me alive. I take it this is the part where you ask for me to beg for mercy huh?"

I sarcastically reply, "Yes, and this is the part where you agree. Once it is over, we all go back to base for a drink and get laid all in the same day by beautiful whores."

Commander Jack joins the room and stands at the side of his flight partner.

"Ah, I see that some of the same loyalists survived from the early jump. Too bad that you are still on the wrong side of this equation. It would have been nice to have more loyal men such as yourself on our side to help us. At least my squad see the prospect of joining a member of Chaos Squad."

Mr. Death enters the room with Rampage following closely. He says, "Well, it is going to be a bitch to explain to the boss man why we had to kill so many of his former allies. I am sure though he will pay us handsomely for it though."

The flight informer shouts, "You and your surviving friends are dead! You think this is going to end well for any of you?! You will all die!"

The target Chaos member surprises us and executes Commander Jack and the flight informer. The three of us didn't know what to say to this change in allegiance. He walks from around the table.

"I see no real profit in continuing my attack on any of you. So, I formally submit myself to you and allow myself to be taken as your prisoner."

Rampage steps forward and says, "That's it? So, you are already giving up? Why do I sense this is some form of trap you have in mind for us?"

He waits before laughing heartfully and continues, "I have already accomplished my goal. What happens to me now is of no concern. My commanding officer has the information he needs to do the next phase of our plans. The only path left for me now is submission. You may bring me in to secure your ends, but you won't gain any real advantage here. It is a shame that you won't be able to see the real threat coming until it is too late for any of you."

He extends his hands out to be cuffed. I slap on the zip ties and bind his hands. Before we escort him out, Mr. Death gives him two heavy hits to the body. We radio our evac chopper for the area of our destination. The chopper can't land in the dense jungle until we get to a more open area. As we make our way through the carnage, we gun down a few more locals. Whatever is left of this base will fall before dark. Once we get away from the battle zone and without further ado, we head for an open terrain. Specter and the young sniper join us. We all evade any hostile locals. We may have helped them, but they still are not on our side. We all begin our slow journey through the jungle. The more we try to go for the open field, the more we keep encountering traps and locals. We had to make sure that no one is following us. The perilous journey has plenty of traps both explosive and tree surprises. The heat in the jungle comes close to tiring us out. We take a long walk for about one hour before coming close to an open field. We sit down and rest until our guest begins to laugh.

He says, "So, what is it that made you all agree to do this? Was it the money? Is it the promise of more equipment? Did you really believe the man in charge is going to keep on working with you?"

Mr. Death answers, "You can just shut the fuck up with your questions. We were told about you. Our business is to get paid for bringing you back alive. That is all we need to know. We are not here for any sad sob story. And I am more than happy to put a bullet through your head."

The man cracks a smiles and replies, "You know it is funny. You all agree to do this for your own personal reasons. The problem is that none of you truly know this man like the rest of my team does. Chaos Squad started off just like you did. We didn't know each other. We were not even on friendly terms. It was the day of our abandonment that made us into the enemy that you must now bring in alive. We all were nothing more than his means to an end. I see your ends coming once he has no more need for any of you. Like us, he will do to you the same."

Specter interrupts, "You really need to silence your useless rambling. Maybe Rampage should stick a grenade up your ass to keep you quiet. Either way, your fate will be decided once we bring you in."

Rampage ever remains silent throughout the chatting, but the target did say something rather odd that makes me want to ask more questions. If anything, he will provide all the information to Mr. Powers about what the other Chaos Squad members have in store. We all grab up our gear and finish heading into the open field. The helicopter receives our beacon for a pick up. Our first priority target is alive. We will have a long ride back to the airstrip. I feel a pull at my suit. I look over to see the sniper who came with us.

He says, "I never got a chance to ask for your name. I am Sam Godfrey."

I reply, "It is best for you to not get to know me. I am Vector. That is all you need to know of me."

Upon hearing the silence, Sam follows the same method and speaks no more. This flight back to home will be a long one, but we are bringing home a person. I lean back with my eyes shut. I hear the sound of the plane and see darkness to bring me comfort.

 **Day 68**

 _Chaos Squad Member_

The room is dark with water dripping. An intense pain I'm feeling comes as expected. The hard hit to my face knock my senses out of focus. It all comes to me as a familiar. I'm not sure if pain is a familiar to me, but I no longer care for such. My time will be coming soon. I feel at peace despite my pain. I feel the world no longer holding me responsible for my actions. Maybe it is my physical pain that allows me to feel at peace or maybe it is the weight no longer on my shoulders. The constant hits to my face come rapid without any pause. Yet, I still feel so much alive knowing that this pain is not of a phantom. This pain is nothing of a false memory. This pain is from all that I have endured. I have come to this point in life to feel so much alive. The door way is almost open yet I still remain strong knowing it will be my time. Once I step through this door, there will be no more hidden words, no more lies, no more secrets, and no more want. I will have achieved my final mission. The mission of what is promise to come. For now, the unrestful pain slowly slips into an irritation. I can hear footsteps approaching me. My whole face is bloody. My body is no-where near broken. Now, these worthless words again. I wish the words would stop.

The same interrogating questions are being asked over and over again. "Where are your friends hiding at? What have you given them? These are the things I need to know. Cooperate or die."

I lift my head up slowly. I can feel the blood pour from my wounds. I am tired of giving the same answers. The more this man wishes for me to give him answers, the more I hope for my door to open to me. I calmly smile and give him a different answer this time. For me, the answers are going to be the same. This answer may cause him more rage than peace.

I lean forward laughing, "You are going to fail. You know what I have done. All that remains for me is to die. Once my task is over, you will be left with nothing but more plans to formulate and invent."

The interrogator sighs heavily. He gets up and walks away from me. I can barely see him speaking to his fellow men. No telling what words are being uttered. They leave for a moment. I sit patiently waiting as the pain reminds me to stay alert. This takes me back to what they did to me. The training grounds are still there. I can feel how rough the ground was. The drill sergeant is giving us orders to run the exercise court. I am running to the wall. I climb up it as fast as I can before I hear the words: Fall in, you worthless maggots! The rope is dirty. Too many hands have grabbed it. I make it to the top and fall over on my side. The ground is wet and muddy. A kick to my side sent me hitting the ground hard. I get up only to be told to hurry to the next part. The others are shouting and making it more annoying to be around them. We have to swing ourselves over the muddy trench. Something is wrong though. Why is the trench full of blood? A sharp pain to my face hits me. I swing over praying I don't fall in. I look back only to see others fall in or barely make it. The ones that fall in seem to disappear. I can't focus on them. I have to move forward. I look ahead and see that my next course is the crawling event. I am more than ready for this. I receive a smack to my head again. Why am I back in the room with the dripping water? A person is constantly smacking my face trying to get me to focus.

"You do realize that you will die right?"

I lean my head back to see the light before saying, "I am ready to do as you say sir. I am ready to begin my mission."

I hear more voices before I slip into my thoughts again. Now, I am in a plane with my fellow allies. We are being informed of what awaits us on the ground. The land we are flying over is a warzone. Nothing but gun fire all around us to keep us alert. The back door is opened as we begin to dive out the aircraft. We land safely on the ground to a battle. We move deep into enemy territory firing bullets everywhere at anyone not on our side. I make a mistake before being captured by the enemy. What is this? More lights at the end of the hall? What is going on here? I feel my body being dragged to the light. The chains on my arms and legs are heavy. I can't focus on what is at the end of the hall. All I know is there is a light waiting for me. I can hear people talking around me. Maybe it is my mission coming to an end. I get placed inside a car. I try to get up but a smack with the end of a gun knocks me down. I am almost free. I can see the greatest of my plans being a reality.

It is as if I am floating in the air. There is no more need for words. No more time for this pointless debate. The end will be in sight. I hear the sound of victory cheers. The cracking sounds of voices shattering the silent void. I wake to see the men surrounding the area. I can finally see the end in full view. The small cart I am on stops. I get pulled from it. They drag me through the crowds of cheering folk. I smile in the face of my enemies. They are ready to see me for who I am. I am thrown to the ground, but I feel no hatred towards them. I am no longer held down by the weight of my actions. No more will there be any pain once I finally complete this last phase of my mission. I can barely stand. The painful sensation rolls all over my body. I am finally ready to do what I must. I get approached by a commanding officer. She shoves me forward. I turn and face her. The crowd is in full company.

She unloosens my chains. She steps to the side and orders the first line of soldiers to step forward. They all cock their gun and aim at me. I look at all of them with a smile of no regret. My final mission begins with the sound of gun fire. The gun line turns and fires into the crowd of soldiers. They take down a group before they turn and rush me to the other side of the stage. With only a little cover keeping us safe the mob of troops, I didn't know what to expect next. The woman commander fires two shots off. She reaches for a detonator from her side. She presses down on the button and sets off a chain explosion. The blasts leave the enemy weak, confused, and disoriented. The gun squad keeps up the pressure. The woman and five men escort me away from the area. There is too much open terrain here. We run as fast as we can. I can feel my body endure the pain once more. The aches in my legs burn my things. The punches to my face bring back terrible hurt from long ago. We can hear the enemy coming up behind us until another explosion goes off. The results end badly for our pursers. We run more through the rough terrain of tall grass. The hot air we breathe scorches our lungs. The men grab more bombs from their harness and toss them in various directions. The bombs create a smoke screen for us to disappear into. The five men escort clears away from us to keep the enemy guessing. Only the woman commander remains at my side. With the tall grass and smoke around our head, it buys us time to recover. I fall to my knees. The long run we did left me beyond fatigued. Suddenly, a sharp sting to my neck occurs. The commander gives me something, but I didn't know what is in it. I turn to face her. She is more concern than alert.

"I have given you a sedative. In a matter of moments, you will feel as if your heart is about to stop. This will kill you. You will die. I have been sent here to report your death. This is my last few words to you: Your mission is a success. You have done your duty well. The time has come for you to die and live forever more."

She pulls out her side arm. The drug slowly starts taking its effect on me. My heart beats a little slowly. The oxygen in my lungs causes me to breathe harder. This experience of hurt is more than painful. My body is weaker than before. I fall to my knees struggling to breathe in the air. I can feel my heart slowly down more and the gun clicking. The last words I hear from her: Goodbye. The gun fires and hits me in the body. I pass out unaware of where she shot me at. I find myself lost in a world of hurt. My death is finally achieved. I have completed my mission. My commander will be able to continue with the mission. I die leaving behind a life for which my actions will carry weight. What is this? A dream? I am wearing my uniform for...what? I look at myself in the mirror. It must be time for the day of our graduation. I can already hear the crowd cheering for us as we pass on stage and accept our paper with a gun salute. Never have I heard a louder sound than anything else. I see my fellow comrades are here with me. One has a scar on his face. This one has a burn on his neck to shoulder. Here is the one with a missing yet bleeding arm? This woman is holding her dead child with a bullet in her head? What kind of honorable graduation is this? I look down at my hands to see blood dripping from them. I hear a voice call to me. An enraged person figure punches to the floor. It picks me up and shakes me violently.

"YOU DID THIS TO US! WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE SUCH A FATE?!"

No! I did nothing! I did no such things to anyone. I was given an order to eliminate those that stand against us. It is what they told me. They told me to stop the enemy. The enemy is not innocent of the rage they bring on others. Where am I? Who are these people attacking me? I find myself fall into an abyss of blood with a thousand voices crashing into me. One voice damns me. This voice hates me. The next is asking why. I hear another scream a bloody death. I can feel something shaking me. Who is trying to shake me? I didn't die from the sedative she gave me? What is going on? I wake up and attack the first person in front of me. It is a familiar face that I haven't seen since our last raid on our previous employer. I always crack a smile knowing that this is the one who can infiltrate any place and blend in with the crowd with ease.

"I see that the commander follows her instructions carefully to the letter," he said with such enthusiasm.

He continues, "I am glad she has made certain your trip here is easy for you. She could have not sent you in a body bag, but it must have been more convincing on her part. Welcome back to Chaos Squad. Now, that everyone thinks you are dead, we can continue with our plan."

I throw my head back and laugh, "So, now we are at the point of our end game? I was hoping this would last a little longer before we finally get to kill him. I suppose I better make my last few plans stretch as much as possible. Once this man dies, it will be a dull moment against what remains of his operations. How should we proceed? I have at least three ways we can handle this."

I get up from the table to dress myself. The floor is ice cold. I look around to see that I have been sent along with the dead. The place is unfamiliar to me. I find my new clothes to the side on the table. I wonder where I have been sent to. As I change out of clothes, my comrade informs me of the developing details.

He says, "Your information bug has been a success for us. Now that the enemy has taken the falsified info, they won't be able to keep track of our own movements. But, we still need your next plans to go along with each of the others we have in mind."

Once I get my new clothes adjusted, I turn to him and reply, "Whatever plans we got in mind for our foes, they will undoubtedly for into them. For now, let us be on our way to see the commander. I hope everyone has been well since our last moment."

We calmly exit the room and find the hall being watched by two soldiers. I follow him down the hall to see more active groups of people patrolling the hall or passing on orders. We walk through the areas. I see rooms with different kinds of activity going on. One room has communications going on. The second room leads to an outside yard where I can hear the commands shouted.

I say, "So, our commander has been gathering more people to help us?"

My comrade replies, "Ever since you were caught, he has taken every precaution needed to ensure that this will never happen again. It is nothing, but I still prefer to use caution should this happen again."

I look inside a weapons room and see guns upon rows of racks. As we pass through here, I see assaults rifles of different types. I find hand guns resting on the tables. A few men and women are locking and loading their guns. They must have an assignment. The gun room even has many kinds of submachine guns too. At least the base I am in has the right firepower. Towards the end of the walk, we come to the main area. The doors swing open. I see trucks, hummers, attack choppers, and even tanks. I am at a loss for words. The firepower the base has here is enough to do more than over take our previous employers' own place. I know before Chaos Squad split up that our commander has a base of power in mind; however, nothing here is anything as what was said. I see people working on tanks. I glace at teams doing some jogging towards their truck. A few others are checking the gears on various cars. This place is ready to strike more than just terror in the eyes of our enemies. We accompany a few others to a particular spot. We come to a large group being inspired to victory. I can already tell who is giving the speech.

"All of you have been given the greatest opportunity to join us here. You have been given the tools you need to win. You have been trained to handle any situation you face. You know no fear. You know not what defeat is. You will destroy and obliterate the enemy with the power you have inside of you. Though some of you may not live to see the end of this day, know this before you go. You are giving your life to our cause. Your enemy may take your life, but you will take everything from them that they hold dear before you lay down and die. Go forth! In the name of Chaos, go forth and bring death to the enemy!"

The teams give a thunderous cry and head for the choppers. It is like watching a parade of mad men. They run to their death, knowing that this may be their last day. I envy them truly. I get to know and watch from a monitor how well they get to die as they take down people in their way. With the people all gone from the area, I see only the ones that make up the rest of Chaos Squad. Each of them knows nothing but victory. The trap expert is already looking over her kit. She is ready and alert. No one has ever made it pass any of her traps as many as she has made. I never knew in the beginning why she got the awkward nickname, but it suits her style. To her right, I can't believe he is still alive. That last mission months back should have did more than just burned off his face. The ironic part is he still has his fire bombs and flame thrower ready to burn. He is flicking his lighter open and closing it. I guide my eyes to the person in back. It is the man who can take your gun and beat you to death with it. For the most part, he is the gun collector and the gun keeper. For every gun he likes, he takes it from those that are beaten by his hands. For those that he needs, he makes sure it goes into his private stash. I see he has come well prepared for anything. I come face to face with the man whose planning equals my own. Our leader of the Chaos Squad will out shine us when it comes to a team. I feel nothing but our great plans will be modified and expand. Under this one's leadership, he can take us from certain defeat to survival. It is amazing view to have one leader like him lead us. It is another thing to be the one to serve him. We gather around and greet each other. The full strength of the Chaos Squad is back.

Our leader says, "With our last successful raid and falsified information done, our former boss is now probably going to be feeling way shittier than before. Thanks to the efforts of one commander, he will not accept any more new recruits into his facility. Now, we can begin the next phase of our plans."

He continues as we walk, "The next few plans call forth all of our skill to be used against him. We have several different openings to try. First, we can try to launch a full scale battle against our foe and use everything we have available to us. We will only need to leave a few guards able to keep this place going. The next plan can be led by our trap expert here if she can lay over more than five-hundred traps and surprises around the area of where the enemy strikes from. This will require a round the clock detail of who helps her and stays here. Our third option falls into our falsely information we keep feeding them. By doing this, we can have the enemy believe we are somewhere we are not. At the same time, we can use the small misleading tactic to land nearby areas that will turn into possible ambushes. The last two ideas are more dangerous for us. One plan lets us use our fortresses to take the fight to our enemy in different ways. The other allows us to successfully show the people all over the world that we are more than just a force we is being hunted. Before we make any plans, let me hear your own ideas of what you wish to do and how we can proceed."

I eagerly wait and hear the first speaker say, "To hell with the damn sneaking around and walking in the door. I implore you: Let us just end this stupid game of tag and bring Mr. Powers to justice. Why do we keep hiding in the dark when we have more than enough people in all areas that can make his fortress easily fall to us?"

The infamous trap expert replies, "You dare think this can be easily done? If so, better to lure his main army away from his base and ensnare them all in my web of traps. Once we get them out in the open field, then you can kill as many of them as you can."

Our infiltrator replies, "It may be an easy game to you all, but killing the enemy off from within their own home is way more satisfying than just an all-out brawl. I can't believe you are ready to stoop to Mr. Prowers's level of intelligence. You may as well just nuke his base if you wanna win so badly."

Before another word is spoken, I interrupt and say, "None of you are giving good advice on our current matter. There is only two good ways for us to keep the enemy off our backs and leave him guessing. Our first choice is for each of us to retreat to our own personal stronghold and fortify the defenses based on our troops and available resources we have. After that, we will each launch our own campaigns against the enemy. By doing this, we will not only be ready for anything the enemy tries but anticipating anything he may try. We each should contribute to each other's stronghold modifications so to add more our advantage. The second option open to us is for our plan to continue as we are now. We can continue to infiltrate and learn of our enemy's movement. The only flaw in this tactic is he has by now caught some of our double agents. With this advantage lost to us, we can now move up our assaults on his base, but we will suffer causalities than him. He will be expecting this of us. I urge you all to see the better course for us to take at this point."

Our leader nods his head in agreement for the first plan. We agree to fall back to our strongholds and ready ourselves for when Mr. Powers uses up all his might. With no more words needing to be said, we each take this time to do inventory for our weapon stock, our vehicles, our manpower, and layout of our operations. We only have a few days to do this before a sudden strike comes to us. We will be ready for him. Our fight against Mr. Powers will be his last. There is no room for errors. After we arrive to the room, I start going over everything I see. From layouts to numbers, it will be easy for us. I see plenty of ways to improve the chances, but there is always room for contingency plans to be made.


End file.
